Source: TA NEA
Κόντρα ανάμεσα στο υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και το Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης έχει ξεσπάσει με αφορμή τους αρχαιολογικούς θησαυρούς που έρχονται στο φως. Κι αυτό διότι η μεν αρμόδια Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων μπορεί να έχει κλειδώσει σε θησαυροφυλάκιο τα χρυσά στεφάνια που βρέθηκαν στον σταθμό Σιντριβάνι, δεν διαθέτει χώρο φύλαξης όμως για τους τέσσερις ογκώδεις τάφους που θα αποσπαστούν ολόκληροι, αλλά ούτε και για τα χιλιάδες ευρήματα που ήρθαν στο φως μαζί με τους 1.414 ανεσκαμμένους μέχρι σήμερα τάφους λόγω έργων. Και το δε Μετρό δεν πληρώνει για να εξασφαλίσει τη φύλαξη των αρχαίων έως ότου ολοκληρωθούν τα έργα και οι αρχαιότητες τοποθετηθούν στους σταθμούς ως εκθέματα κατά το πρότυπο της Αθήνας.
Το κόστος για την ανακατασκευή κτιρίου για τη φύλαξη των αρχαιοτήτων στο Στρατόπεδο Κόδρα κρίθηκε υπερβολικό από το Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης και αντιπροτείνει την τοποθέτηση λυόμενων σε οικόπεδο χαμηλού κόστους, 40 χλμ. έξω από την πόλη, απόσταση που δυσκολεύει τον έλεγχο των αποθηκών από την ΙΣΤ΄ Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων. Η κόντρα έχει οξυνθεί τόσο που η αρμόδια έφορος επεσήμανε ενώπιον του Κεντρικού Αρχαιολογικού Συμβουλίου πως δέχεται απειλές για μετάθεση (!) αν συνεχίσει να επιμένει.
Ωστόσο, ακόμη κι αν το Μετρό βρει λύση (όπως οφείλει), οι αρχαιότητες αυξάνονται και πληθύνονται, ενώ σύντομα θα αρχίσουν και οι ανασκαφές στο κέντρο της πόλης.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Το αντισεισμικό μυστικό του Παρθενώνα θα αναζητήσουν (και) Ιάπωνες ειδικοί
Source: in.gr
Μία ακόμα ομάδα επιστημόνων προτίθεται να αναζητήσει το μυστικό που θέλει τον Παρθενώνα να στέκει στο ύψος του, παρά τα πολλαπλά Ρίχτερ που τον ταρακουνούν εδώ και αιώνες.
Πρόκειται για ερευνητική ομάδα από το πανεπιστήμιο Μίε της Ιαπωνίας σε συνεργασία με το ΕΜΠ και το υπουργείο Πολιτισμού.
Όπως αναφέρεται στο σύνολο του Τύπου της Παρασκευής, επικεφαλής της ομάδας είναι ο Τοσικάζου Χαναζάτο, κορυφαίος εκπρόσωπος της ιαπωνικής σεισμολογικής σχολής.
Ο ίδιος έχει διάφορες σκέψεις στο μυαλό του: «Στο επίκεντρο των ερευνών μας βρίσκεται η εύκαμπτη δομή των κιόνων. Εδώ και πολλά χρόνια έχει διατυπωθεί η άποψη ότι οι κολόνες είναι το κλειδί της αντοχής του Παρθενώνα στις σεισμικές δονήσεις» είπε στην ιταλική Repubblica, για να συνεχίσει:
«Το καμάρι του Χρυσού Αιώνα του Περικλή είναι η τελευταία μας ελπίδα. Αν θέλουμε να νικήσουμε τον Εγκέλαδο, πρέπει να το κάνουμε με τη βοήθεια των αρχαίων Ελλήνων».
Μία ακόμα ομάδα επιστημόνων προτίθεται να αναζητήσει το μυστικό που θέλει τον Παρθενώνα να στέκει στο ύψος του, παρά τα πολλαπλά Ρίχτερ που τον ταρακουνούν εδώ και αιώνες.
Πρόκειται για ερευνητική ομάδα από το πανεπιστήμιο Μίε της Ιαπωνίας σε συνεργασία με το ΕΜΠ και το υπουργείο Πολιτισμού.
Όπως αναφέρεται στο σύνολο του Τύπου της Παρασκευής, επικεφαλής της ομάδας είναι ο Τοσικάζου Χαναζάτο, κορυφαίος εκπρόσωπος της ιαπωνικής σεισμολογικής σχολής.
Ο ίδιος έχει διάφορες σκέψεις στο μυαλό του: «Στο επίκεντρο των ερευνών μας βρίσκεται η εύκαμπτη δομή των κιόνων. Εδώ και πολλά χρόνια έχει διατυπωθεί η άποψη ότι οι κολόνες είναι το κλειδί της αντοχής του Παρθενώνα στις σεισμικές δονήσεις» είπε στην ιταλική Repubblica, για να συνεχίσει:
«Το καμάρι του Χρυσού Αιώνα του Περικλή είναι η τελευταία μας ελπίδα. Αν θέλουμε να νικήσουμε τον Εγκέλαδο, πρέπει να το κάνουμε με τη βοήθεια των αρχαίων Ελλήνων».
TROY WAS MUCH BIGGER THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED
Source: ANSAmed
BERLIN, AUGUST 21 - Troy was much bigger than what was believed until now, Ernst Pernicka, professor of Archeometry at the University of Tuebingen and in charge of the excavations under way in Turkey, affirms. While the scholars believed for long time that the legendary city spans on a surface of at most 27 hectares, in fact Troy was located on a surface of 35 hectares, Pernicka told the German media. The continuation of a defensive trench from the Bronze Age was recently discovered by the archaeologists and it allowed evaluating unequivocally the real expansion of Troy.
BERLIN, AUGUST 21 - Troy was much bigger than what was believed until now, Ernst Pernicka, professor of Archeometry at the University of Tuebingen and in charge of the excavations under way in Turkey, affirms. While the scholars believed for long time that the legendary city spans on a surface of at most 27 hectares, in fact Troy was located on a surface of 35 hectares, Pernicka told the German media. The continuation of a defensive trench from the Bronze Age was recently discovered by the archaeologists and it allowed evaluating unequivocally the real expansion of Troy.
We're back!
After a long summer hiatus we're back.
Stay tuned for more archaeology and ancient history news!
Stay tuned for more archaeology and ancient history news!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar
Source:Times Online
Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
Some say that its 45 mysterious symbols are the words of a 4,000-year-old poem, or perhaps a sacred text. Others contest that they are a magical inscription, a piece of ancient music or the world's oldest example of punctuation.
But now an American scholar believes that the markings on the Phaistos Disc, one of archaeology's most famous unsolved mysteries, mean nothing at all — because the disc is a hoax.
Jerome Eisenberg, a specialist in faked ancient art, is claiming that the disc and its indecipherable text is not a relic dating from 1,700BC, but a forgery that has duped scholars since Luigi Pernier, an Italian archaeologist, “discovered” it in 1908 in the Minoan palace of Phaistos on Crete.
Pernier was desperate to impress his colleagues with a find of his own, according to Dr Eisenberg, and needed to unearth something that could outdo the discoveries made by Sir Arthur Evans, the renowned English archaeologist, and Federico Halbherr, a fellow Italian.
He believes that Pernier's solution was to create a “relic” with an untranslatable pictographic text. If it was a ruse, it worked. Evans was so excited that he published an analysis of Pernier's findings. For the past century innumerable attempts have been made to decipher the disc. Archaeologists have tried linking them to ancient civilisations, from Greek to Egyptian.
Dr Eisenberg, who has conducted appraisals for the US Treasury Department and the J. Paul Getty Museum, highlighted the forger's error in creating a terracotta “pancake” with a cleanly cut edge. Nor, he added, should it have been fired so perfectly. “Minoan clay tablets were not fired purposefully, only accidentally,” he said. “Pernier may not have realised this.”
Each side of the disc bears a bar composed of four or five dots which one scholar described as “the oldest example of the use of natural punctuation”.
Dr Eisenberg believes that it was added to lead scholars astray — “another oddity to puzzle them, and a common trick among forgers”. The Greek authorities have refused to give Dr Eisenberg permission to examine the disc outside its display case, arguing that it is too delicate to be moved.
His misgivings could be laid to rest by a thermoluminescence test — a standard scientific dating test — but the authorities had refused, he said. In Rome, this test cast doubt recently on the provenance of another iconic archeological object.
Experts are now contending that the Capitoline Wolf, the famous bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome, dates from the Middle Ages, and not Etruscan times, as long has been held.
The Capitoline Museum's website says that the statue, known as Lupa, or she-wolf, is from the 5th century BC and was donated to the museum in 1471 by Pope Sixtus IV.
However, in a front-page article this week in the Rome daily a Repubblica, Adriano La Regina, who for decades headed the national archaeological office for Rome, suggested that the museum was reluctant to release test results indicating that the bronze was medieval.
“The new information about the epoch of the Capitoline bronze has been held back for about a year now,” La Regina wrote. He added that the tests had produced a “very precise indication in the 13th century”.
The 30in (75cm) bronze is the centrepiece of a museum room named after it, and postcards and T-shirts with its image are popular Rome souvenirs.
Claudio Parisi Presicce, the museum's director, insisted that his institution was not trying to hide data that could subtract centuries from the she-wolf's antiquity, saying that the data “aren't definitive yet”.
Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
Some say that its 45 mysterious symbols are the words of a 4,000-year-old poem, or perhaps a sacred text. Others contest that they are a magical inscription, a piece of ancient music or the world's oldest example of punctuation.
But now an American scholar believes that the markings on the Phaistos Disc, one of archaeology's most famous unsolved mysteries, mean nothing at all — because the disc is a hoax.
Jerome Eisenberg, a specialist in faked ancient art, is claiming that the disc and its indecipherable text is not a relic dating from 1,700BC, but a forgery that has duped scholars since Luigi Pernier, an Italian archaeologist, “discovered” it in 1908 in the Minoan palace of Phaistos on Crete.
Pernier was desperate to impress his colleagues with a find of his own, according to Dr Eisenberg, and needed to unearth something that could outdo the discoveries made by Sir Arthur Evans, the renowned English archaeologist, and Federico Halbherr, a fellow Italian.
He believes that Pernier's solution was to create a “relic” with an untranslatable pictographic text. If it was a ruse, it worked. Evans was so excited that he published an analysis of Pernier's findings. For the past century innumerable attempts have been made to decipher the disc. Archaeologists have tried linking them to ancient civilisations, from Greek to Egyptian.
Dr Eisenberg, who has conducted appraisals for the US Treasury Department and the J. Paul Getty Museum, highlighted the forger's error in creating a terracotta “pancake” with a cleanly cut edge. Nor, he added, should it have been fired so perfectly. “Minoan clay tablets were not fired purposefully, only accidentally,” he said. “Pernier may not have realised this.”
Each side of the disc bears a bar composed of four or five dots which one scholar described as “the oldest example of the use of natural punctuation”.
Dr Eisenberg believes that it was added to lead scholars astray — “another oddity to puzzle them, and a common trick among forgers”. The Greek authorities have refused to give Dr Eisenberg permission to examine the disc outside its display case, arguing that it is too delicate to be moved.
His misgivings could be laid to rest by a thermoluminescence test — a standard scientific dating test — but the authorities had refused, he said. In Rome, this test cast doubt recently on the provenance of another iconic archeological object.
Experts are now contending that the Capitoline Wolf, the famous bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome, dates from the Middle Ages, and not Etruscan times, as long has been held.
The Capitoline Museum's website says that the statue, known as Lupa, or she-wolf, is from the 5th century BC and was donated to the museum in 1471 by Pope Sixtus IV.
However, in a front-page article this week in the Rome daily a Repubblica, Adriano La Regina, who for decades headed the national archaeological office for Rome, suggested that the museum was reluctant to release test results indicating that the bronze was medieval.
“The new information about the epoch of the Capitoline bronze has been held back for about a year now,” La Regina wrote. He added that the tests had produced a “very precise indication in the 13th century”.
The 30in (75cm) bronze is the centrepiece of a museum room named after it, and postcards and T-shirts with its image are popular Rome souvenirs.
Claudio Parisi Presicce, the museum's director, insisted that his institution was not trying to hide data that could subtract centuries from the she-wolf's antiquity, saying that the data “aren't definitive yet”.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Oldest wheat found in Çatalhöyük
Source: Today's Zaman
A series of DNA analyses conducted on ancient wheat samples have led scientists to conclude that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia.
Professor Mahinur Akkaya from the Middle East Technical University's (ODTÜ) department of chemistry says the world's oldest wheat found so far comes from Çatalhöyük, this according to a series of DNA analyses made on 8,500-year-old wheat samples. "Our discovery is of great importance as it gives us significant insight into the birth of the first civilization in Anatolia. With our analyses, we have shown that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük," she said in an interview with the Anatolia news agency.
Akkaya and a group of professors from her university worked on the analyses. "While analyzing several wheat samples, we learned that Professor Gordon Hillman, an honorary professor of archaeobotany at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, had the world's oldest known wheat samples. We contacted him and he gave us a few kernels to analyze in comparison," she said. The analyses showed these samples to be 8,500 years old.
Akkaya, stressing that utmost care was taken with these kernels, noted that they, as Turkish scientists, were happy to have undertaken such an important discovery about Anatolia. "A previous analysis carried out on 6,000-year-old wheat samples had shown that wheat was grown in southeastern Diyarbakır's Karacadağ area. Our discovery has gone beyond this finding," she remarked.
"Generally, Turkish scientists go abroad to conduct such research and analyses or send samples to other countries to have them analyzed. But we carried out the analyses ourselves at our university. We will soon publish our findings in an international scientific journal," she added.
A series of DNA analyses conducted on ancient wheat samples have led scientists to conclude that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia.
Professor Mahinur Akkaya from the Middle East Technical University's (ODTÜ) department of chemistry says the world's oldest wheat found so far comes from Çatalhöyük, this according to a series of DNA analyses made on 8,500-year-old wheat samples. "Our discovery is of great importance as it gives us significant insight into the birth of the first civilization in Anatolia. With our analyses, we have shown that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük," she said in an interview with the Anatolia news agency.
Akkaya and a group of professors from her university worked on the analyses. "While analyzing several wheat samples, we learned that Professor Gordon Hillman, an honorary professor of archaeobotany at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, had the world's oldest known wheat samples. We contacted him and he gave us a few kernels to analyze in comparison," she said. The analyses showed these samples to be 8,500 years old.
Akkaya, stressing that utmost care was taken with these kernels, noted that they, as Turkish scientists, were happy to have undertaken such an important discovery about Anatolia. "A previous analysis carried out on 6,000-year-old wheat samples had shown that wheat was grown in southeastern Diyarbakır's Karacadağ area. Our discovery has gone beyond this finding," she remarked.
"Generally, Turkish scientists go abroad to conduct such research and analyses or send samples to other countries to have them analyzed. But we carried out the analyses ourselves at our university. We will soon publish our findings in an international scientific journal," she added.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
DNA reveals sister power in Ancient Greece
Source: The University of Manchester
University of Manchester researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth.
Women were thought to have had little power in ancient Greece, unless they married a powerful man and were able to influence him. But a team of researchers testing ancient DNA from a high status, male-dominated cemetery at Mycenae in Greece believe they have identified a brother and sister buried together in a richly endowed grave, suggesting that she had as much power as him.
The team, led by Professor Terry Brown and Ms Keri Brown at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Professor John Prag at the Manchester Museum, have been studying Grave Circle B at Mycenae for 10 years. Their paper Kinship between burials from Grave Circle B at Mycenae revealed by ancient DNA typing appears in the Journal of Archeological Science.
The Bronze Age citadel at Mycenae is one of the most evocative prehistoric sites in all of Europe. The legendary home of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Mycenae held a natural attraction for early antiquarians in the years before its first systematic study by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s. Schliemann s famous telegram, sent during his excavation of Grave Circle A in 1876, stating that he had gazed upon the face of Agamemnon , turned out to be erroneous for the burials that he had uncovered predated the Trojan War by some four centuries, but his excavations were nonetheless significant as they established Mycenae as one of the richest and, by implication, most powerful of the Aegean states during the 17th to 12th centuries BC.
Grave Circle B spans c. 1675-1550 BC and predates A with possibly fifty years overlap. Within Grave Circle B there is a development from simple cist burials to larger, deeper and richer Shaft Graves with weapons, pottery and gold ornaments including a face-mask made of electrum (a naturally-occurring gold-silver amalgam). Generally they were less well endowed than the remarkable gold-laden burials in Circle A, but the richness of both Grave Circles leaves little doubt that their occupants were elite members of early Mycenaean society.
The team, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, wanted to ascertain the relationships within this elite group, in particular whether the individuals were members of a single family or small number of families who had established themselves as the ruling dynasty in early Mycenae.
John Prag and Richard Neave of the University of Manchester had previously applied modern techniques of facial reconstruction to the seven best preserved skulls. These faces are on display in the Making Faces gallery in the Manchester Museum, and visitors can see how the results suggest that these seven individuals fall into three groups, the heart-shaped faces (which includes the brother and sister), the long faces and one beaky face . Dr Abigail Bouwman in Professor Brown s group then tested mitochondrial DNA from the bones and was able to confirm the relationships.
Professor Brown recalled: We were surprised to discover what appears to be a sister buried beside her brother in the high status, male-dominated grave circle. The implication is that she was buried in Grave Circle B not because of a marital connection but because she held a position of authority by right of birth.
DNA analysis has therefore enabled us to glimpse the factors contributing to the organisation of the higher echelons of society at the beginning of the Mycenaean age.
Keri Brown added: Homer s stories are thought to be memories : tales of the Bronze Age retold some 400 years later, as the early archaeologists who went in search of the places he described found them, not just Mycenae rich in gold but also wall-girt of Tiryns and other sites.
We certainly haven t unearthed the real Electra and Orestes. They were the brother and sister who in the Greek epic tradition avenged their father Agamemnon s death at the hands of their mother Clytemnestra, but if they were real people then they lived centuries after our pair. We will never know who our lady was but it is tempting to think that she might have been a little like the Electra of legend, who seems to have been such a powerful woman that the later stories tell how she was forced to marry a peasant to dilute her influence.
Professor Brown said: On a purely scientific note, our results also show that while it is difficult apply this type of analysis to archaeological remains ancient DNA is generally poorly preserved and the problems caused by contamination with modern DNA are more acute ancient DNA can greatly advance understanding of kinship when used to test hypotheses constructed from other evidence.
It is fascinating work and we have learned a lot. In future we hope to do similar research at other sites in Greece if we can find any at which ancient DNA is preserved.
University of Manchester researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth.
Women were thought to have had little power in ancient Greece, unless they married a powerful man and were able to influence him. But a team of researchers testing ancient DNA from a high status, male-dominated cemetery at Mycenae in Greece believe they have identified a brother and sister buried together in a richly endowed grave, suggesting that she had as much power as him.
The team, led by Professor Terry Brown and Ms Keri Brown at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Professor John Prag at the Manchester Museum, have been studying Grave Circle B at Mycenae for 10 years. Their paper Kinship between burials from Grave Circle B at Mycenae revealed by ancient DNA typing appears in the Journal of Archeological Science.
The Bronze Age citadel at Mycenae is one of the most evocative prehistoric sites in all of Europe. The legendary home of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Mycenae held a natural attraction for early antiquarians in the years before its first systematic study by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s. Schliemann s famous telegram, sent during his excavation of Grave Circle A in 1876, stating that he had gazed upon the face of Agamemnon , turned out to be erroneous for the burials that he had uncovered predated the Trojan War by some four centuries, but his excavations were nonetheless significant as they established Mycenae as one of the richest and, by implication, most powerful of the Aegean states during the 17th to 12th centuries BC.
Grave Circle B spans c. 1675-1550 BC and predates A with possibly fifty years overlap. Within Grave Circle B there is a development from simple cist burials to larger, deeper and richer Shaft Graves with weapons, pottery and gold ornaments including a face-mask made of electrum (a naturally-occurring gold-silver amalgam). Generally they were less well endowed than the remarkable gold-laden burials in Circle A, but the richness of both Grave Circles leaves little doubt that their occupants were elite members of early Mycenaean society.
The team, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, wanted to ascertain the relationships within this elite group, in particular whether the individuals were members of a single family or small number of families who had established themselves as the ruling dynasty in early Mycenae.
John Prag and Richard Neave of the University of Manchester had previously applied modern techniques of facial reconstruction to the seven best preserved skulls. These faces are on display in the Making Faces gallery in the Manchester Museum, and visitors can see how the results suggest that these seven individuals fall into three groups, the heart-shaped faces (which includes the brother and sister), the long faces and one beaky face . Dr Abigail Bouwman in Professor Brown s group then tested mitochondrial DNA from the bones and was able to confirm the relationships.
Professor Brown recalled: We were surprised to discover what appears to be a sister buried beside her brother in the high status, male-dominated grave circle. The implication is that she was buried in Grave Circle B not because of a marital connection but because she held a position of authority by right of birth.
DNA analysis has therefore enabled us to glimpse the factors contributing to the organisation of the higher echelons of society at the beginning of the Mycenaean age.
Keri Brown added: Homer s stories are thought to be memories : tales of the Bronze Age retold some 400 years later, as the early archaeologists who went in search of the places he described found them, not just Mycenae rich in gold but also wall-girt of Tiryns and other sites.
We certainly haven t unearthed the real Electra and Orestes. They were the brother and sister who in the Greek epic tradition avenged their father Agamemnon s death at the hands of their mother Clytemnestra, but if they were real people then they lived centuries after our pair. We will never know who our lady was but it is tempting to think that she might have been a little like the Electra of legend, who seems to have been such a powerful woman that the later stories tell how she was forced to marry a peasant to dilute her influence.
Professor Brown said: On a purely scientific note, our results also show that while it is difficult apply this type of analysis to archaeological remains ancient DNA is generally poorly preserved and the problems caused by contamination with modern DNA are more acute ancient DNA can greatly advance understanding of kinship when used to test hypotheses constructed from other evidence.
It is fascinating work and we have learned a lot. In future we hope to do similar research at other sites in Greece if we can find any at which ancient DNA is preserved.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Harrison Ford Elected to AIA Board
Source: Archaeological Institute of America
"Indiana Jones" shows his commitment to real archaeology.
After years of being identified on screen as the legendary archaeologist "Indiana Jones," actor Harrison Ford has won election to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Institute of America. With his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set to hit U.S. movie theaters on May 22, the film star commented on his real world dedication to archaeology, "Knowledge is power, and understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future."
The Archaeological Institute of America is North America's oldest and largest non-profit organization devoted to archaeology. With more nearly a quarter of a million members and subscribers and 105 local chapters, it promotes archaeological excavation, research, education, and preservation on a global basis. At the core of its mission is the belief that an understanding of the past enhances our shared sense of humanity and enriches our existence. As archaeological finds are a non-renewable resource, the AIA's work benefits not only the current generation, but also those yet to come in the future.
"Harrison Ford has played a significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration," said Brian Rose, President of the AIA. "We are all delighted that he has agreed to join the AIA's Governing Board."
In addition, the current May/June issue of ARCHAEOLOGY magazine, published by the AIA, features a cover story devoted to the mysteries surrounding the alleged crystal skull archaeological finds that inspired the new "Indiana Jones" film. For the complete article, go to www.archaeology.org.
Harrison Ford is already helping to raise public awareness of the AIA and its mission as the news of his election to the Board has spread. Many media outlets have covered the story.
"Indiana Jones" shows his commitment to real archaeology.
After years of being identified on screen as the legendary archaeologist "Indiana Jones," actor Harrison Ford has won election to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Institute of America. With his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set to hit U.S. movie theaters on May 22, the film star commented on his real world dedication to archaeology, "Knowledge is power, and understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future."
The Archaeological Institute of America is North America's oldest and largest non-profit organization devoted to archaeology. With more nearly a quarter of a million members and subscribers and 105 local chapters, it promotes archaeological excavation, research, education, and preservation on a global basis. At the core of its mission is the belief that an understanding of the past enhances our shared sense of humanity and enriches our existence. As archaeological finds are a non-renewable resource, the AIA's work benefits not only the current generation, but also those yet to come in the future.
"Harrison Ford has played a significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration," said Brian Rose, President of the AIA. "We are all delighted that he has agreed to join the AIA's Governing Board."
In addition, the current May/June issue of ARCHAEOLOGY magazine, published by the AIA, features a cover story devoted to the mysteries surrounding the alleged crystal skull archaeological finds that inspired the new "Indiana Jones" film. For the complete article, go to www.archaeology.org.
Harrison Ford is already helping to raise public awareness of the AIA and its mission as the news of his election to the Board has spread. Many media outlets have covered the story.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 13, 7:57 PM ET
JERUSALEM - One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week — more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment.
The museum decided to put the scroll back on show for three months as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.
The priceless manuscript, written by a Judean scribe around 120 B.C., was in a long glass case Tuesday, its neat rows of Hebrew letters distinct and legible. President Bush, visiting Israel this week for the anniversary celebration, will be one of the first to view it.
The Isaiah manuscript was the only complete biblical book discovered among the Dead Sea scrolls, one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century. The ancient documents, which include fragments of the books of the Old Testament and treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war, have shed important light on Judaism and the origins of Christianity.
The Book of Isaiah is traditionally attributed to a prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.
In the book, he calls for repentance, warns of impending doom, and — in one of the most famous passages ever written — offers an idyllic vision of the future: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Curator Adolfo Roitman called the Isaiah manuscript the "gem of the Dead Sea scrolls." It is "one of the most important treasures of the Jewish nation, if not the most important," he added.
A far smaller fragment of another Dead Sea scroll will be on display at the Jerusalem convention center where Bush will be speaking along with other dignitaries.
The segment, also rarely shown, contains the text of Psalm 133, which reads: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 13, 7:57 PM ET
JERUSALEM - One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week — more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment.
The museum decided to put the scroll back on show for three months as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.
The priceless manuscript, written by a Judean scribe around 120 B.C., was in a long glass case Tuesday, its neat rows of Hebrew letters distinct and legible. President Bush, visiting Israel this week for the anniversary celebration, will be one of the first to view it.
The Isaiah manuscript was the only complete biblical book discovered among the Dead Sea scrolls, one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century. The ancient documents, which include fragments of the books of the Old Testament and treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war, have shed important light on Judaism and the origins of Christianity.
The Book of Isaiah is traditionally attributed to a prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.
In the book, he calls for repentance, warns of impending doom, and — in one of the most famous passages ever written — offers an idyllic vision of the future: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Curator Adolfo Roitman called the Isaiah manuscript the "gem of the Dead Sea scrolls." It is "one of the most important treasures of the Jewish nation, if not the most important," he added.
A far smaller fragment of another Dead Sea scroll will be on display at the Jerusalem convention center where Bush will be speaking along with other dignitaries.
The segment, also rarely shown, contains the text of Psalm 133, which reads: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
Divers Find Ancient Bust of Caesar
Source: AP via AOL News
PARIS (May 13) - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.
The life-size bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles -- founded by Caesar.
Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9-foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the first decade of the third century after Christ.
Two smaller statues, both in bronze and measuring 27.5 inches each also were found, one of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, "doubtless" originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.
"Some (of the discoveries) are unique in Europe," Culture Minister Christine Albanel said. "The bust of Caesar is in a class by itself.
"This marble bust of the founder of the Roman city of Arles constitutes the most ancient representation known today of Caesar," the ministry statement said, adding that it "undoubtedly" dates to the creation of Arles in 46 B.C.
Among other things, researchers are trying to uncover "in what context these statues were thrown into the river," said Michel L'Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, whose divers made the discovery between September and October 2007.
The site "has barely been skimmed," L'Hour told The Associated Press, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.
He said the Arles region, in the Provence region of southern France, with its Roman beginnings, and the Rhone are "propitious" for discoveries.
Albanel called the find "exceptional" and said that the Caesar bust is "the oldest representation known today" of the emperor.
PARIS (May 13) - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.
The life-size bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles -- founded by Caesar.
Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9-foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the first decade of the third century after Christ.
Two smaller statues, both in bronze and measuring 27.5 inches each also were found, one of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, "doubtless" originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.
"Some (of the discoveries) are unique in Europe," Culture Minister Christine Albanel said. "The bust of Caesar is in a class by itself.
"This marble bust of the founder of the Roman city of Arles constitutes the most ancient representation known today of Caesar," the ministry statement said, adding that it "undoubtedly" dates to the creation of Arles in 46 B.C.
Among other things, researchers are trying to uncover "in what context these statues were thrown into the river," said Michel L'Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, whose divers made the discovery between September and October 2007.
The site "has barely been skimmed," L'Hour told The Associated Press, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.
He said the Arles region, in the Provence region of southern France, with its Roman beginnings, and the Rhone are "propitious" for discoveries.
Albanel called the find "exceptional" and said that the Caesar bust is "the oldest representation known today" of the emperor.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
AGON- International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area
AGON
7th International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area
Athens, 6-11 May 2008
APOLLON Cinemax Class
AGON, the International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean area, is being held every two years and it is organised by the non-profit association AGON, in collaboration with the Greek magazine Archaeology and Arts. During the festival, archaeological, ethnological and folkloric films are screened, films which reveal and record a lost world, mainly from the Mediterranean area. The viewers will have the chance to ascertain that today’s archaeology all over the world, is not just holding on the past, but it is tracing through time, the essential sparks of knowledge.
During these last 12 years, AGON has developed in an institution with national and international recognition. In a time when Europe is full of archaeological film festivals (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland…), AGON is the only archaeological film festival in Greece, the country which is globally linked with the concept of Archaeology.
AGON, once more held in APOLLON cinema, where it all first started back in May 1996, is inviting you to an exciting journey of knowledge through 31 hours of film projection…
7th International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area
Athens, 6-11 May 2008
APOLLON Cinemax Class
AGON, the International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean area, is being held every two years and it is organised by the non-profit association AGON, in collaboration with the Greek magazine Archaeology and Arts. During the festival, archaeological, ethnological and folkloric films are screened, films which reveal and record a lost world, mainly from the Mediterranean area. The viewers will have the chance to ascertain that today’s archaeology all over the world, is not just holding on the past, but it is tracing through time, the essential sparks of knowledge.
During these last 12 years, AGON has developed in an institution with national and international recognition. In a time when Europe is full of archaeological film festivals (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland…), AGON is the only archaeological film festival in Greece, the country which is globally linked with the concept of Archaeology.
AGON, once more held in APOLLON cinema, where it all first started back in May 1996, is inviting you to an exciting journey of knowledge through 31 hours of film projection…
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Και επισήμως στην Ελλάδα από την Ελβετία η μαρμάρινη λήκυθος του 4ου π.Χ. αιώνα
Source: in.gr
Τη μαρμάρινη λήκυθο του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. που επαναπατρίσθηκε από την Ελβετία στη χώρα μας παρουσίασε τη Μεγάλη Δευτέρα στους δημοσιογράφους ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης, σε ειδική εκδήλωση στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο.
Η διαδικασία επαναπατρισμού της αττικής μαρμάρινης ληκύθου ολοκληρώθηκε την περασμένη Πέμπτη και σε λίγες μέρες θα «φιλοξενηθεί» στα εργαστήρια συντήρησης του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου, όπου και θα παραμείνει για περίπου δύο μήνες.
Η λήκυθος με ανάγλυφη παράσταση δύο γυναικείων μορφών που εικονίζονται σε σκηνή δεξίωσης αποχαιρετισμού σε νεκρό, κλασική σκηνή αποχαιρετισμού. Είχε παρουσιασθεί το 2007 σε διεθνή έκθεση αρχαιοπωλών στο Μάαστριχτ, όπου δημοπρατείτο από Ελβετό αρχαιοπώλη.
Μετά από σειρά διαβουλεύσεων, ο Ελβετός αρχαιοπώλης αποφάσισε να παραδώσει τη λήκυθο στο ελληνικό Δημόσιο, εξωδίκως, ανεπιφύλακτα και άνευ όρων. Το έργο παραδόθηκε σε εκπρόσωπο της ελληνικής πρεσβείας στη Βέρνη και στη συνέχεια συσκευάστηκε στην ελεύθερη τελωνειακή ζώνη της Βασιλείας και μεταφέρθηκε στην Ελλάδα.
Όπως δήλωσε ο κ. Λιάπης, εξετάζεται η δυνατότητα να παρουσιασθούν σε έκθεση στο νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης το προσεχές φθινόπωρο όλα τα επαναπατρισθέντα στην Ιταλία αντικείμενα και η έκθεση να συμπληρωθεί με τα αντίστοιχα ελληνικά.
Ο κ. Λιάπης ξεναγήθηκε από τον διευθυντή του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Νίκο Καλτσά στην αιγυπτιακή συλλογή, περίπου 1.200 αντικειμένων, που θα εγκαινιασθεί επισήμως στις 14 Μαΐου.
Τη μαρμάρινη λήκυθο του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. που επαναπατρίσθηκε από την Ελβετία στη χώρα μας παρουσίασε τη Μεγάλη Δευτέρα στους δημοσιογράφους ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης, σε ειδική εκδήλωση στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο.
Η διαδικασία επαναπατρισμού της αττικής μαρμάρινης ληκύθου ολοκληρώθηκε την περασμένη Πέμπτη και σε λίγες μέρες θα «φιλοξενηθεί» στα εργαστήρια συντήρησης του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου, όπου και θα παραμείνει για περίπου δύο μήνες.
Η λήκυθος με ανάγλυφη παράσταση δύο γυναικείων μορφών που εικονίζονται σε σκηνή δεξίωσης αποχαιρετισμού σε νεκρό, κλασική σκηνή αποχαιρετισμού. Είχε παρουσιασθεί το 2007 σε διεθνή έκθεση αρχαιοπωλών στο Μάαστριχτ, όπου δημοπρατείτο από Ελβετό αρχαιοπώλη.
Μετά από σειρά διαβουλεύσεων, ο Ελβετός αρχαιοπώλης αποφάσισε να παραδώσει τη λήκυθο στο ελληνικό Δημόσιο, εξωδίκως, ανεπιφύλακτα και άνευ όρων. Το έργο παραδόθηκε σε εκπρόσωπο της ελληνικής πρεσβείας στη Βέρνη και στη συνέχεια συσκευάστηκε στην ελεύθερη τελωνειακή ζώνη της Βασιλείας και μεταφέρθηκε στην Ελλάδα.
Όπως δήλωσε ο κ. Λιάπης, εξετάζεται η δυνατότητα να παρουσιασθούν σε έκθεση στο νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης το προσεχές φθινόπωρο όλα τα επαναπατρισθέντα στην Ιταλία αντικείμενα και η έκθεση να συμπληρωθεί με τα αντίστοιχα ελληνικά.
Ο κ. Λιάπης ξεναγήθηκε από τον διευθυντή του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Νίκο Καλτσά στην αιγυπτιακή συλλογή, περίπου 1.200 αντικειμένων, που θα εγκαινιασθεί επισήμως στις 14 Μαΐου.
Artifact with Hellenistic influence discovered at Sassanid city
Source: Mehr News Agency
TEHRAN, April 21 (MNA) -- A team of archaeologists working at the ruins of a Sassanid city in southern Iran’s Fars Province has recently discovered an artifact bearing some traces of the Hellenistic artistic style.
The artifact bears images of two faces looking in the opposite direction engraved on a flat piece of ivory, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday.
It is only the second time such an artifact has been found at an ancient site in Iran.
“The influence of Hellenistic art is clearly observed in the appearance of the eyes of the faces,” team director Alireza Jafari-Zand said.
The artifact is estimated to date back to a period between 200 BC and 200 CE when local states, which were concurrent with the Parthian Empire, appeared to rule the region after the Seleucids, he explained.
A similar artifact had been identified by a foreign archaeologist at an ancient site in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province about 70 years ago.
According to Jafari-Zand, the foreign archaeologist never explained how he had acquired the artifact. However, he believes the local people had given it to him.
The Sassanid city, which was identified in May 2007, will be entirely submerged if the Fars Regional Water Company completes the process of filling the Salman-e Farsi Dam.
The 360-hectare city contains ruins of structures from the post-Achaemenid period and the Sassanid and early Islamic eras.
The company had begun filling the reservoir of the dam in mid-March 2007. However, the process was halted after the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) lodged an official complaint.
Afterwards, the archaeological team was organized and dispatched to the region to conduct rescue excavations.
TEHRAN, April 21 (MNA) -- A team of archaeologists working at the ruins of a Sassanid city in southern Iran’s Fars Province has recently discovered an artifact bearing some traces of the Hellenistic artistic style.
The artifact bears images of two faces looking in the opposite direction engraved on a flat piece of ivory, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday.
It is only the second time such an artifact has been found at an ancient site in Iran.
“The influence of Hellenistic art is clearly observed in the appearance of the eyes of the faces,” team director Alireza Jafari-Zand said.
The artifact is estimated to date back to a period between 200 BC and 200 CE when local states, which were concurrent with the Parthian Empire, appeared to rule the region after the Seleucids, he explained.
A similar artifact had been identified by a foreign archaeologist at an ancient site in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province about 70 years ago.
According to Jafari-Zand, the foreign archaeologist never explained how he had acquired the artifact. However, he believes the local people had given it to him.
The Sassanid city, which was identified in May 2007, will be entirely submerged if the Fars Regional Water Company completes the process of filling the Salman-e Farsi Dam.
The 360-hectare city contains ruins of structures from the post-Achaemenid period and the Sassanid and early Islamic eras.
The company had begun filling the reservoir of the dam in mid-March 2007. However, the process was halted after the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) lodged an official complaint.
Afterwards, the archaeological team was organized and dispatched to the region to conduct rescue excavations.
Egypt: Tomb of Cleopatra and lover to be uncovered
Source: AKI - Adnkronos International
Cairo, 24 April (AKI) - Archaeologists have revealed plans to uncover the 2000 year-old tomb of ancient Egypt's most famous lovers, Cleopatra and the Roman general Mark Antony later this year.
Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together.
He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs.
Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, 30 kilometres from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt.
Until recently access to the tomb has been hindered because it is under water, but archaeologists plan to drain the site so they can begin excavation in November.
Among the clues to suggest that the temple may contain Cleopatra's remains is the discovery of numerous coins with the face of the queen.
According to Hawas, Egyptologists have also uncovered a 120-metre-long underground tunnel with many rooms, some of which could contain more details about Cleopatra.
Born in Rome, Mark Antony was a military general and commander, as well as supporter of Julius Caesar. He was also Cleopatra's lover and bore him a son, called Caesarion.
After Julius Caesar's assassination in March 44 B.C., Antony formed a triumvirate with Octavian, also known as Augustus, and Marcus Lepidus.
Civil war ensued in Rome due to disagreements between Antony and Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's heir and who later became Rome's first emperor.
Antony was subsequently defeated by Octavian and he later committed suicide.
Cleopatra, who came to power at 18 years of age, was once the ruler of Egypt and considered the last of seven queens of the same name.
She was famous for her intelligence, her beauty and her political power.
Cleopatra who also bore Mark Antony twins, committed suicide after his death in August 30 B.C.
Cairo, 24 April (AKI) - Archaeologists have revealed plans to uncover the 2000 year-old tomb of ancient Egypt's most famous lovers, Cleopatra and the Roman general Mark Antony later this year.
Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together.
He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs.
Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, 30 kilometres from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt.
Until recently access to the tomb has been hindered because it is under water, but archaeologists plan to drain the site so they can begin excavation in November.
Among the clues to suggest that the temple may contain Cleopatra's remains is the discovery of numerous coins with the face of the queen.
According to Hawas, Egyptologists have also uncovered a 120-metre-long underground tunnel with many rooms, some of which could contain more details about Cleopatra.
Born in Rome, Mark Antony was a military general and commander, as well as supporter of Julius Caesar. He was also Cleopatra's lover and bore him a son, called Caesarion.
After Julius Caesar's assassination in March 44 B.C., Antony formed a triumvirate with Octavian, also known as Augustus, and Marcus Lepidus.
Civil war ensued in Rome due to disagreements between Antony and Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's heir and who later became Rome's first emperor.
Antony was subsequently defeated by Octavian and he later committed suicide.
Cleopatra, who came to power at 18 years of age, was once the ruler of Egypt and considered the last of seven queens of the same name.
She was famous for her intelligence, her beauty and her political power.
Cleopatra who also bore Mark Antony twins, committed suicide after his death in August 30 B.C.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Professor John Nicolas Coldstream FBA, FSA (1927-2008)
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor John Nicolas Coldstream on Friday 21st March 2008.
I had the honour to know Professor Coldstream personally, as he was the external examiner of my PhD thesis at Nottingham in 2003. Prof. Coldstream was always very kind to me and acted as my referee in more than one occasion.
The last time we met was in Volos last June during the conference in memory of another eminent archaeologist, William D. Coulson.
A Symposium on Greek Geometric Pottery in memory of the late Professor Nicolas Coldstream will take place at the British School at Athens on Saturday 29th March 2008.
He shall be greatly missed...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Greek team finds ancient skull that underwent surgery: reports
Source: AFP via Google News
SALONIKA, Greece (AFP) — Archaeologists have unearthed the skull of a young woman in northern Greece who is believed to have undergone head surgery in the third century, Greek news media reported Wednesday.
A Greek team discovered the skeleton at an ancient cemetery in Veria, with the skull including an injury that led them to conclude the surgery had been performed.
"We think that there was a complex surgical intervention that only an experienced doctor could have performed," said Ioannis Graikos, the head of the archaeological dig.
"Medical treatment on the human body in the Roman Veria is part of a long tradition that began with Hippocrates up to Roman doctor Celsus and Galen," he said, cited in the Ta Nea newspaper.
Hippocrates is believed to have lived in the fifth century BC, Celsus between 25 BC to 50 AD, and Galen from 131 to 201.
The procedure believed to have been carried out was a trepanation, an ancient form of surgery to address head injuries or illnesses.
In 2003, Greek archaeologists discovered a man's skull in a tomb on the Aegean island of Chios from the second century BC that had also undergone a trepanation.
The patient was believed to have lived a number of years after the operation.
Another trepanation was discovered in 2006 in Thrace on a young woman from the eighth century BC believed injured by a weapon.
SALONIKA, Greece (AFP) — Archaeologists have unearthed the skull of a young woman in northern Greece who is believed to have undergone head surgery in the third century, Greek news media reported Wednesday.
A Greek team discovered the skeleton at an ancient cemetery in Veria, with the skull including an injury that led them to conclude the surgery had been performed.
"We think that there was a complex surgical intervention that only an experienced doctor could have performed," said Ioannis Graikos, the head of the archaeological dig.
"Medical treatment on the human body in the Roman Veria is part of a long tradition that began with Hippocrates up to Roman doctor Celsus and Galen," he said, cited in the Ta Nea newspaper.
Hippocrates is believed to have lived in the fifth century BC, Celsus between 25 BC to 50 AD, and Galen from 131 to 201.
The procedure believed to have been carried out was a trepanation, an ancient form of surgery to address head injuries or illnesses.
In 2003, Greek archaeologists discovered a man's skull in a tomb on the Aegean island of Chios from the second century BC that had also undergone a trepanation.
The patient was believed to have lived a number of years after the operation.
Another trepanation was discovered in 2006 in Thrace on a young woman from the eighth century BC believed injured by a weapon.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Ancient Tomb Discovered on Greek Island
Source: AP via AOL News
ATHENS, Greece (March 5) - Road construction on the western Greek island of Lefkada has uncovered and partially destroyed an important tomb with artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years, officials said on Wednesday.
The find is a miniature version of the large, opulent tombs built by the rulers of Greece during the Mycenaean era, which ended around 1100 B.C. Although dozens have been found in the mainland and on Crete, the underground, beehive-shaped monuments are very rare in the western Ionian Sea islands, and previously unknown on Lefkada.
The discovery could fuel debate on a major prehistoric puzzle - where the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus was located.
"This is a very important find for the area, because until now we had next to no evidence on Mycenaean presence on Lefkada," excavator Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi told The Associated Press.
Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the tomb was unearthed about a month ago by a bulldozer, during road construction work.
"Unfortunately, the driver caused significant damage," she said.
She said the tomb contained several human skeletons, as well as smashed pottery, two seal stones, beads made of semiprecious stones, copper implements and clay loom weights. It appeared to have been plundered during antiquity.
With a nine-foot diameter, the tomb is very small compared to others, such as the Tomb of Atreus in Mycenae, which was more than 46 feet across and built of stones weighing up to 120 tons.
But it could revive scholarly debate on the location of Odysseus' Ithaca mentioned in Homer's poems - which are believed to be loosely based on Mycenaean-era events. While the nearby island of Ithaki is generally identified as the hero's kingdom, other theories have proposed Lefkada or neighboring Kefallonia.
Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the discovery might cause excitement on Lefkada but it was too soon for any speculation on Odysseus.
"I think it is much too early to engage in such discussion. The location of Homer's Ithaca is a very complex issue," she said.
ATHENS, Greece (March 5) - Road construction on the western Greek island of Lefkada has uncovered and partially destroyed an important tomb with artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years, officials said on Wednesday.
The find is a miniature version of the large, opulent tombs built by the rulers of Greece during the Mycenaean era, which ended around 1100 B.C. Although dozens have been found in the mainland and on Crete, the underground, beehive-shaped monuments are very rare in the western Ionian Sea islands, and previously unknown on Lefkada.
The discovery could fuel debate on a major prehistoric puzzle - where the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus was located.
"This is a very important find for the area, because until now we had next to no evidence on Mycenaean presence on Lefkada," excavator Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi told The Associated Press.
Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the tomb was unearthed about a month ago by a bulldozer, during road construction work.
"Unfortunately, the driver caused significant damage," she said.
She said the tomb contained several human skeletons, as well as smashed pottery, two seal stones, beads made of semiprecious stones, copper implements and clay loom weights. It appeared to have been plundered during antiquity.
With a nine-foot diameter, the tomb is very small compared to others, such as the Tomb of Atreus in Mycenae, which was more than 46 feet across and built of stones weighing up to 120 tons.
But it could revive scholarly debate on the location of Odysseus' Ithaca mentioned in Homer's poems - which are believed to be loosely based on Mycenaean-era events. While the nearby island of Ithaki is generally identified as the hero's kingdom, other theories have proposed Lefkada or neighboring Kefallonia.
Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the discovery might cause excitement on Lefkada but it was too soon for any speculation on Odysseus.
"I think it is much too early to engage in such discussion. The location of Homer's Ithaca is a very complex issue," she said.
Recent finds at Macedonian site of Pella reveal a city beneath the city community
Prehistoric cemetery yields evidence of an Early Bronze Age
By Iota Myrtsioti - Kathimerini
Exciting new finds at the archaeological site of Pella have opened a new chapter in Macedonian history. Beneath the ruins of the ancient capital of the Macedonian kingdom is a large prehistoric burial ground that has yielded the first evidence of organized life in Pella during the third millennium BC.
It was while they were engaged in conservation, repairs and other work to highlight the site that the excavation team from Aristotle University came across more than 100 Early Bronze Age burials in large jars, accompanied by marble works of art from the Cyclades, local ceramics and metalware.
The finds are so recent that experts at the Demokritos Center have not yet completed the analysis of bones that will yield precise dates. However, the initial evidence supplements what is already known about Pella in the Early Bronze Age (2100-2000 BC), when it was the most important city in Bottiaea, long before it was made capital of the Macedonian realm. What became known as “the greatest of Macedonian cities” was apparently built on top of the prehistoric graveyard when Archelaus moved his capital there from Aiges, excavation director Professor Ioannis Akamatis told Kathimerini.
It was on this site that one of the most important urban centers developed. It had what was at the time an innovative, Manhattan-style, rectangular town plan, with an extensive network of water and sewerage pipes, which helped make Macedonia’s largest city one of the most important political and cultural centers of the Hellenistic Era (4th to 1st centuries BC).
The precise boundaries of the prehistoric cemetery cannot be determined because a large part of it lies beneath the urban center of the ancient city, but the graves that have been located so far beneath the city roads provide enough information to form a picture of prehistoric Pella.
In accordance with burial customs in Pella’s prehistoric community, the dead were placed in jars, simple trenches or in stone structures. The bodies placed in jars were buried with their limbs folded and the head either close to the mouth or the bottom of the jar.
Many of the jars are between 150 and 160 centimeters tall. One of them will be exhibited in a new museum in Pella as it was found, with the remains of the body and the grave goods.
The position of the body depended on gender: Men were placed facing the right, women to the left. The arms were crossed over the chest and the hands drawn up to the face below the jaw. Some graves contained infants and children up to the age of 3, while several belong to individuals aged 14-16.
The bodies in the jars represent about 30 percent of the burials. “The Macedonian plain was fertile in antiquity too. They stored goods (agricultural products, wood and metal) in storage jars, and that practice also influenced burial customs,” said Akamatis.
The dead were accompanied by objects, many of which had long been in everyday use before they ended up in the grave. Most tombs contained at least one vessel. Some of the dead were buried with valuable jewelry such as silver rings, gold earrings, bracelets and necklaces, bronze clasps, needles and daggers. “The prosperity of Pella’s prehistoric community is apparent from the metal goods and jewelry,” commented Akamatis.
All the clay finds were vessels made by hand using techniques employed in the Early Bronze Age in Macedonia (3100-2200 BC). Expertly worked marble flasks bear traces of red paint (associated with perceptions of death and life after death), indicating that they were used in burial ceremonies.
Akamatis said that the marble vessel of Pella, which is very rare for Central Macedonia, is related to a Late Neolithic Age (4500-3100 BC) example from Alepotrypa Dirou in the Mani, while a series of small Cycladic flasks date from the Early Cycladic I period.
“The flasks, made with marble probably from Paros, found their way to the coast of prehistoric Pella by sea from the Cyclades to the Gulf of Loudia. It is one of the earliest known examples of trade and economic ties between the Cyclades and Macedonia and the broader region.”
The settlement to which the burial ground belongs must have been fairly close by, Akamatis believes.
The Bronze Age settlement may have been maintained into historical times, since a few distinctive Early Iron Age objects have been discovered at Pella.
By Iota Myrtsioti - Kathimerini
Exciting new finds at the archaeological site of Pella have opened a new chapter in Macedonian history. Beneath the ruins of the ancient capital of the Macedonian kingdom is a large prehistoric burial ground that has yielded the first evidence of organized life in Pella during the third millennium BC.
It was while they were engaged in conservation, repairs and other work to highlight the site that the excavation team from Aristotle University came across more than 100 Early Bronze Age burials in large jars, accompanied by marble works of art from the Cyclades, local ceramics and metalware.
The finds are so recent that experts at the Demokritos Center have not yet completed the analysis of bones that will yield precise dates. However, the initial evidence supplements what is already known about Pella in the Early Bronze Age (2100-2000 BC), when it was the most important city in Bottiaea, long before it was made capital of the Macedonian realm. What became known as “the greatest of Macedonian cities” was apparently built on top of the prehistoric graveyard when Archelaus moved his capital there from Aiges, excavation director Professor Ioannis Akamatis told Kathimerini.
It was on this site that one of the most important urban centers developed. It had what was at the time an innovative, Manhattan-style, rectangular town plan, with an extensive network of water and sewerage pipes, which helped make Macedonia’s largest city one of the most important political and cultural centers of the Hellenistic Era (4th to 1st centuries BC).
The precise boundaries of the prehistoric cemetery cannot be determined because a large part of it lies beneath the urban center of the ancient city, but the graves that have been located so far beneath the city roads provide enough information to form a picture of prehistoric Pella.
In accordance with burial customs in Pella’s prehistoric community, the dead were placed in jars, simple trenches or in stone structures. The bodies placed in jars were buried with their limbs folded and the head either close to the mouth or the bottom of the jar.
Many of the jars are between 150 and 160 centimeters tall. One of them will be exhibited in a new museum in Pella as it was found, with the remains of the body and the grave goods.
The position of the body depended on gender: Men were placed facing the right, women to the left. The arms were crossed over the chest and the hands drawn up to the face below the jaw. Some graves contained infants and children up to the age of 3, while several belong to individuals aged 14-16.
The bodies in the jars represent about 30 percent of the burials. “The Macedonian plain was fertile in antiquity too. They stored goods (agricultural products, wood and metal) in storage jars, and that practice also influenced burial customs,” said Akamatis.
The dead were accompanied by objects, many of which had long been in everyday use before they ended up in the grave. Most tombs contained at least one vessel. Some of the dead were buried with valuable jewelry such as silver rings, gold earrings, bracelets and necklaces, bronze clasps, needles and daggers. “The prosperity of Pella’s prehistoric community is apparent from the metal goods and jewelry,” commented Akamatis.
All the clay finds were vessels made by hand using techniques employed in the Early Bronze Age in Macedonia (3100-2200 BC). Expertly worked marble flasks bear traces of red paint (associated with perceptions of death and life after death), indicating that they were used in burial ceremonies.
Akamatis said that the marble vessel of Pella, which is very rare for Central Macedonia, is related to a Late Neolithic Age (4500-3100 BC) example from Alepotrypa Dirou in the Mani, while a series of small Cycladic flasks date from the Early Cycladic I period.
“The flasks, made with marble probably from Paros, found their way to the coast of prehistoric Pella by sea from the Cyclades to the Gulf of Loudia. It is one of the earliest known examples of trade and economic ties between the Cyclades and Macedonia and the broader region.”
The settlement to which the burial ground belongs must have been fairly close by, Akamatis believes.
The Bronze Age settlement may have been maintained into historical times, since a few distinctive Early Iron Age objects have been discovered at Pella.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Unique Roman Amphitheatre Slumbers Beneath Sofia Downtown
Source: News.bg
Serdica - an ancient names of Sofia, was a military, economic and culture centre in the Roman Empire.
And while local culture tourism is redirected to Perperikon and other spots dispersed all over this country, a mystic town slumbers beneath Sofia downtown, told from Standart.
The excavations under the medieval St. Sofia church started in the 1940s.
There is a huge Roman necropolis under the church with dozens of tombs stretching under the building of the National Assembly.
Archaeologists and historians reckon the remnants from Roman times and the later cultural strata are unique and can be found nowhere else in the world.
There appears the problem. Round 10 million EUR are needed to take at the surface all the Roman rests.
‘The Heart of the City' project which aims to exhibit Serdica costs 7 million EUR.
The other 3 million EUR will be necessary for researches, conservation and adaptation of the unique amphitheatre, discovered 2 years ago.
The Standart reveals that last week the amphitheatre that was named ‘Sofia Coliseum'.
The walls of the ancient Roman city encircle the region between Alabin Str., Hristo Botev Blv and Iskar Str.
Serdica - an ancient names of Sofia, was a military, economic and culture centre in the Roman Empire.
And while local culture tourism is redirected to Perperikon and other spots dispersed all over this country, a mystic town slumbers beneath Sofia downtown, told from Standart.
The excavations under the medieval St. Sofia church started in the 1940s.
There is a huge Roman necropolis under the church with dozens of tombs stretching under the building of the National Assembly.
Archaeologists and historians reckon the remnants from Roman times and the later cultural strata are unique and can be found nowhere else in the world.
There appears the problem. Round 10 million EUR are needed to take at the surface all the Roman rests.
‘The Heart of the City' project which aims to exhibit Serdica costs 7 million EUR.
The other 3 million EUR will be necessary for researches, conservation and adaptation of the unique amphitheatre, discovered 2 years ago.
The Standart reveals that last week the amphitheatre that was named ‘Sofia Coliseum'.
The walls of the ancient Roman city encircle the region between Alabin Str., Hristo Botev Blv and Iskar Str.
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