4,000-year-old floor found in Ohio

The remains of a 4,000-year-old floored structure has been found in northeastern Ohio.

“There’s nothing like this anywhere in Ohio. It’s very significant, a much more significant site than we previously thought,” Redmond said. “These are house structures. This was like a village site.”

The builders lived in what archaeologists classify as the Late Archaic period in North America, so far back that they don’t have a tribal name.

“We have no idea what they called themselves or what language they spoke,” Redmond said. “The only reason we know anything about them is archaeology.”

[Full story]

Story: Tom Feran, The Plain Dealer | Photo: The Plain Dealer

Viking sword found in Norway

A sword dating to the late Viking Age has been uncovered from a burial in southern Norway.

The sword must have belonged to a wealthy man who lived in the late Viking Age. The sword is 94 cm long; although the iron blade has rusted, the handle is well preserved. It is wrapped with silver thread and the hilt and pommel at the top are covered in silver with details in gold, edged with a copper alloy thread,” said project leader Zanette Glørstad.

“When we examined the sword more closely, we also found remnants of wood and leather on the blade. They must be remains from a sheath to put the sword in,” explained curator Vegard Vike. He has had the challenging task of cleaning up the handle and preserving the sword.

[Full story]

Story: AlphaGalileo | Photo: Ellen C. Holthe, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

New mosaics found in Galilee synagogue

Researchers working in the east aisle of a 5th-century synagogue in Galilee have uncovered new portions of floor mosaics.

New digging reveals that the inscription is in the center of a large square panel with human figures, animals and mythological creatures arranged symmetrically around it, Magness said. These include winged putti (cupids) holding roundels (circular discs) with theater masks, muscular male figures wearing trousers who support a garland, a rooster, and male and female faces in a wreath encircling the inscription. Putti and masks are associated with Dionysos (Bacchus), who was the Greco-Roman god of wine and theater performances, she said.

This summer’s excavations also brought to light columns inside the synagogue covered with plaster and painted ivy leaf designs.

[Full story]

Story: Bournemouth University | Photo: Bournemouth University

Prehistoric town unearthed in Dorset, England

The remains of 150 Iron Age roundhouses have been found in Dorset, England. Researchers have already excavated 16 of the houses.

Dr Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University and co-director of the Durotriges Big Dig said, “We’ve exposed remains of 16 roundhouses in the two trenches we’ve dug. They are pre-Roman house structures, the last that inhabitants would have been living in before the Romans arrived. We know that there are around 200 of these across this area, so we’ve got ourselves a prehistoric town or proto-urban settlement.

“What we’ve discovered is extremely significant for the whole of Southern Britain because in the past archaeologists have tended to look at really obvious sites, like the big hill-fort of Maiden Castle, near Dorchester. What we have here is an extensive open settlement, not a hill fort, so it wasn’t visible as a settlement from the earthwork on the landscape. What we’ve discovered is one of the earliest and largest open settlements in Britain.”

[Full story]

Story: Bournemouth University | Photo: Bournemouth University

Stone age tools reveal cultural differences

A study of stone tools found at sites 600 miles apart in South Africa are revealing the cultural differences between the groups that made them.

Two of South Africa’s most famous archaeological sites, Sibudu and Blombos, have revealed that Middle Stone Age groups who lived in these different areas, more than 1 000 kilometres apart, used similar types of stone tools some 71 000 years ago, but that there were differences in the ways that these tools were made.

“This was not the case at 65 000 years ago when similarities in stone tool making suggest that similar cultural traditions spread across South Africa,” says Professor Lyn Wadley, archaeologist from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

[Full story]

Story: University of the Witwatersrand | Photo: University of the Witwatersrand

Early humans probably cooked scavenged meat

 

New research indicates that early humans would have had to cook their scavenged meat in order to reduce bacterial loads.

Most scientists agree that cooking dates back about 1.9 million years.

To take a closer look at the possible link between scavenging and cooking, the researchers measured the growth of bacteria on raw boar meat and bone marrow over a 24-hour period and how effectively roasting the meat eliminated the bacteria.

What did the researchers find?

The number of bacteria on the raw meat spiked to potentially dangerous levels within 24 hours, but roasting the meat over hot coals killed most of the bacteria. As for the bone marrow, fewer bacteria grew on it than on the meat, which suggests that it would have been somewhat safer to eat than meat.

[Full story]

Story: Jacqueline Howard, Huffington Post | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Ancient Greek inscription found in Bulgaria

A Greek inscription dating back to the 1st-century A.D. has been found at the ancient spa resort of Aquae Calidae, in Bulgaria.

An ancient inscription providing valuable information about the history of Ancient Thrace in its last years before its conquest by the Roman Empire has been discovered by the archaeologists excavating the city of Aquae Calidae (the Aquae Calidae – Thermopolis Archaeological Preserve) in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Burgas.

The inscription is in Ancient Greek, and is recorded on a marble slab. It is dated back to the 20s-30s of the 1st century AD, roughly about the same time as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

It belongs to Apollonius, son of Eptaikentus (Eptaykent), who was the strategos (military governor) of the lands around the city of Anchialos, today’s Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Pomorie.

[Full story]

Story: Ivan Dikov, Archaeology in Bulgaria | Photo: Burgas Municipality

Remains of US Marines found on Pacific atoll

The remains of 36 marines who died during WWII have been found on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa.

Remote sensing devices, ground penetrating radar and even a cadaver dog were also used to find the missing marines, he said.

“Each one of those individuals had an expectation that if they were to die in the line of duty, defending their country, that they would be brought home according to the wishes of their family. There was a quote that was put on a sign outside of one of the cemeteries on Tarawa that said ‘rest warriors rest, against the day journeying forth, the tender hands will lift thee out to home soil waiting’ and that was a promise made 70 years ago that we felt should be kept, and we endeavour to do that.”

[Full story]

Story: Daniela Maoate-Cox, Radio New Zealand | Photo: US National Archives

Complete Roman fresco found in France

A complete Romain fresco dating back between 20-70 B.C. has been found in Arles, France.

The fresco is unique as it is one of the only full murals that has been found outside Italy – others have simply been fragments.

Experts at the National Institute of Preventive Archaeological research (Inrap) compare the images to those found in the villa of Boscoreale and the famous Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii, the ancient Roman town near Naples that was preserved under lava from an eruption of the Vesuvius volcano.

The Arles fresco shows 11 images in total, including one of a beautiful woman plucking the strings of a harp in rich Egyptian blues and red vermilion pigments.

[Full story]

Story: RFI | Photo: Julien Boislève, Inrap/ Musée Départemental Arles Antique

Viking longhouse found in central Reykjavik

Traces of A viking longhouse which date back 900 years, have been found in central Reykjavik.

Archaeologists digging on Lækjargata in central Reykjavik were looking for traces of a farm cottage built in 1799 – and found a Viking longhouse from some 900 years earlier.

The longhouse is at least 20 m long at 5.5m wide at it widest point. The ‘long fire’ in the centre of the hut is one of the largest ever found in Iceland, which visible traces suggesting it was over 5.2 m long.

“This find came as a great surprise for everybody,” says Þor­steinn Bergs­son, Managing Director of Minja­vernd, an independent association working for the preservation of old buildings in Iceland. “This rewrites the history of Reykjavik.”

[Full story]

Story: Iceland Monitor | Photo: Kristinn Ingvarsson

Pre-Dynastic tombs excavated in Egypt

Four Pre-Dynastic tombs have been unearthed at Tel Al-Farkha, in Egypt.

Eldamaty said three of the tombs are in a very poor condition and include child burials. Meanwhile the fourth tomb is in very good conservation condition and can be dated to the Naqada IIIC2 era.

The minister told Ahram Online that the tomb is a small mastaba with two chambers. The southern one was filled with 42 clay vessels, mainly beer jars, bowls as well as a collection of 26 stone vessels of different shapes and sizes. Some of them are cylinder and globular. A collection of 180 small carnelian beads is also among the deceased funerary collection. The corpse of the deceased was also unearthed in the northern chamber.

[Full story]

Story: Nevine El-Aref, Ahram Online | Photo: Ahram Online

New geoglyphs discovered in Nazca, Peru

3D scanning technology has been used to reveal 24 additional geogylphs in Nazca, Peru, some of which date back between 400-200 B.C.

Most of the lines are heavily eroded, making them difficult to make out with the naked eye, but the researchers used equipment including a 3-D scanner to sketch out the pattern. Most of the drawings seem to depict llamas, the team said.

“We have found 41 geoglyphs in fiscal 2013 and 2014 combined,” Sakai said. “There are no other areas concentrated with this many examples. Yet with both urban areas and farmland encroaching on the drawings, they are under the threat of being destroyed without being recognized as geoglyphs.”

[Full story]

Story: Nobuyoshi Yonezawa, The Asahi Shimbun | Photo: Nobuyoshi Yonezawa, The Asahi Shimbun

Bronze Age gold spirals unearthed in Denmark

2,000 Bronze Age spirals made out of gold have been found in a field in Denmark.

The Danish National Museum announced on Wednesday that archaeologists have uncovered a trove of gold spirals that may have been used for religious ceremonies during the Bronze Age, when the Danes’ ancestors worshiped the sun.

The spirals were recovered from a site that had been excavated before, where a team found four gold bracelets. Amateur archaeologist Christian Albertsen offered to continue searching the area on behalf of the local West Zealand Museum, believing there was more to be found – and he turned out to be right.

The some 2,000 gold spirals that were found have been dated as originating between 900-700 B.C.

[Full story]

Story: The Local | Photo: Vestsjællands Museum

American WWII artifacts sound on Salisbury Plain

Items left behind my American troops who were training for the invasion into Nazi-occupied Europe have been found on Salisbury Plain.

Among the finds were tins of cooking oil, bottles of sauce and “even what appeared to be a block of lard”.

A group spokeswoman said: “The state of preservation of the provisions shows how well made they were.”

The Wiltshire plain has been used as a training ground by the British military since the early 20th Century.

It also provided a training area for US troops preparing for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe during World War Two.

[Full story]

Story: BBC News | Photo: Wessex Archaeology

Slave quarters unearthed at Maryland plantation

The remains of slave housing has been unearthed at Belvoir, an 19th-century plantation in Maryland.

The original structure apparently contained a kitchen and was used by the slaves serving in the plantation house.

“There was a large front room with a kitchen hearth for cooking, meals and socializing,” said Julie Schablitsky, chief archaeologist for the State Highway Administration, which is working on the dig with the county archaeologist.

“In the rear were two rooms, perhaps with bunk beds in one and a family’s quarters in another,” Schablitsky said.

[Full story]

Story: E.B. Gurgurson III, Capital Gazette | Photo: Paul W. Gillespie, Capital Gazette

Ancient Iberian peninsula diet was mostly plant-based

Analysis of ancient human remains found in northwestern Spain suggest that the people who lived in the area between 1800 B.C. to 1600 B.C. ate a mostly plant-based diet.

“There are no significant differences between individuals in terms of diet, so access to food resources must have been similar, regardless of sex or age,” says Olalla López-Costas, lead author of the study.

The researchers found no signs of millets or of millet consumption which means they cannot confirm millets were a part of Bronze Age man’s diet in northwestern Iberia. “We have compared our findings with publications on other sites and believe there are reasonable grounds for believing that summer crops could have been consumed in central Iberia earlier than previously believed,” says López-Costas.

[Full story]

Story: CanalUgr | Photo: CanalUgr

Mongol shipwreck found off Japan coast

The 13th century remains of a Mongolian invasion ship that sank due to a typhoon have been found off the southern coast of Takashima island.

Numerous artifacts have been found on the seabed in the Takashima Kozaki site from wrecks of a fleet dispatched in the second Mongolian attempt to invade Japan in 1281. The two invasion attempts in 1274 and 1281 ended in vain as the both fleets were destroyed in typhoons.

The latest ship is estimated to have measured about 20 meters from bow to stern and 6 to 7 meters wide, slightly smaller than the first ship.

Its body was split by nine wooden bulkheads and was loaded with rocks that were apparently used as ballast. The boat’s keel has not been found. The archaeologists believe it remains buried at the bottom of the sea.

[Full story]

Story: Asahi Shimbun | Photo: University of the Ryukyus and the Matsuura city board of education

19th-century wells found in New Zealand capital

Four wells dating back to the 19th century have been found in Wellington, New Zealand. Several artifacts were found in them, including several porcelain doll’s heads.

A glass inkwell, several porcelain dolls’ heads, a china elephant with a little girl riding on top and an early ginger beer bottle are among the things discovered in old wells during the Victoria Street transformation work.

Another unusual find is the intact, head-shaped bowl of an old clay smoking pipe depicting a bearded man in a cavalry helmet.

Though most of the upgrade work was close to the surface, four wells were discovered as construction workers installed 9000 metres of new ducting pipes for existing and future underground services, and dug the pits for the 55 new trees that now line both sides of the street.

[Full story]

Story: Wellington City Council | Photo: Wellington City Council

Ancient ritual bath found under living room floor

Renovations on a home in Israel have uncovered a ritual bath known as a mikveh which dates back to the 1st century A.D.

The homeowners admit they had been hesitant to contact the IAA, being uncertain about the historic value of their discovery, and worried about “consequences” involved in contacting the authorities. Ultimately, “our sense of civic and public duty clinched it for us,” one commented. They called in the IAA, profess surprise that the IAA treated them courteously – and in fact were awarded a certificate of appreciation (for good citizenship) today.

The neighborhood of Ein Kerem is sacred to Christianity because of its identification with a “city of Judah” – the place where according to the New Testament, John the Baptist was born, and where his pregnant mother Elisabeth met with Mary, mother of Jesus, Re’em says. Yet archaeological remains in and around Ein Kerem from that era (the Second Temple period) are rare, and fragmented.

[Full story]

Story: Nir Hasson, Haaretz | Photo: Assaf Peretz, IAA

Paleolithic milk-based paint found on stone tool

Researchers studying residue found on a 49,000-year-old stone tool have discovered a paint made from milk and ochre.

While the use of ochre by early humans dates to at least 250,000 years ago in Europe and Africa, this is the first time a paint containing ochre and milk has ever been found in association with early humans in South Africa, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and lead study author. The milk likely was obtained by killing lactating members of the bovid family such as buffalo, eland, kudu and impala, she said.

“Although the use of the paint still remains uncertain, this surprising find establishes the use of milk with ochre well before the introduction of domestic cattle in South Africa,” said Villa. “Obtaining milk from a lactating wild bovid also suggests that the people may have attributed a special significance and value to that product.”

[Full story]

Story: Unversity of Colorado at Boulder | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

5,500-year-old fingerprint found on ceramic vessel

A ceramic vessel uncovered in Denmark still bears the 5,500-year old fingerprint of its maker.

Danish archaeologists doing a survey ahead of the construction of the Femern Belt link scheme, an immersed tunnel that will connect the German island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland, have found a 5,500-year old-ceramic vessel bearing the fingerprint of the artisan who made it.

The vessel is known with the name “funnel beaker,” a kind of ceramics which features a flat bottom with a funnel shaped neck. Such earthenware is characteristic of the Funnel Beaker Culture (4000 – 2800 B.C.), which represents the first farmers in Scandinavia and the north European plain.

[Full story]

Story: Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News | Photo: Line Marie Olesen/Museum Lolland-Falster

Rare Viking relic found in Perthshire longhouse

A rare spindle whorl has been found during a dig at a Viking-age longhouse in Perthshire, Scotland.

David Strachan, of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust explained the possible significance of the find.

He said: “Through the ages spindle whorls have often been covered in abstract shapes and the spinning action would bring life to these shapes, much like the old spinning top toy.

“While we certainly have abstract shapes on this example, some of the symbols look like they could be writing, perhaps Viking runes or Ogham inscription a form of early medieval Irish script.”

[Full story]

Story: Courtney Cameron, The Scotsman | Photo: TSPL

2,000-year-old footprint found at Vindolanda

A 2,000-year-old footprint found at the Romain site of Vindolanda in England is shedding life on the daily life of the soldiers and their families who lived on Hadrian’s Wall.

The partial print of a right foot, thought to be comparable with that of an adolescent has been dated to 160-180 CE. The volunteer who found the tile was student Mel Benard who is digging at Vindolanda with a Canadian Field School from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Mel, who was delighted with the discovery explained “this was the first artefact that I had found, I knew straight away that it was a footprint and it is so exciting to have discovered something which links you directly to that individual nearly 2000 years later”

[Full story]

Story: Vindolanda Trust | Photo: Vindolanda Trust

Arrowhead found lodged in Iron Age warrior’s spine

An arrowhead has been found embedded in the spine of an Iron Age warrior. The arrow was not the cause of death as the warrior lived long enough for the bone to heal around the metal point.

“This found individual was extremely lucky to survive,” said study researcher Svetlana Svyatko, a research fellow in the school of geography, archaeology and paleoecology at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. “It’s hard to get a vertebral wound without damaging the main blood vessels, which would have resulted in an immediate death.”

The male warrior was likely between 25 and 45 years old, and stood 5 foot 7 inches (174 centimeters) in height, which was tall considering that his people stood an average of 5 foot 4 inches (165 cm) in height, the researchers said. They found his grave, an elaborate burial mound called a “kurgan,” after getting a tip from local people who live in the area.

[Full story]

Story: Laura Geggel, LiveScience | Photo: Svetlana Svyatko

Prehistoric village found in Guam

A prehistoric village made up of 15 homes has been discovered near Ritidian Point in Guam.

The ancient site of at least 15 latte homes — limestone and coral pillars — is located close to the Ritidian shoreline.

There also were stones lined in front of the pillars that used to be patios, Carson said.

The team of visiting anthropology students, led by professor James Bayman of the University of Hawaii’s Department of Anthropology, is conducting limited excavation and other studies at the site.

[Full story]

Story: Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno, PDN | Photo: Mark Scott/PDN

WWI-era trenches found outside of Canberra

WWI-era training trenches have been discovered outside the Australian capital, Canberra.

In 1916, the military college at Duntroon was home to the school of trench warfare.

The field where the trenches were dug was close by and allowed several hectares for the military to trial various types of trenches.

The trenches were modelled on what was called the Island Traverse System, considered the best at the time and dug by soldiers from the Canberra region who volunteered during the Men from Snowy River recruiting march.

“This area is where they trained people to train others, who then built the system in the field,” Mr Denham said.

[Full story]

Story: ABC | Photo: Siobhan Heanue

Medieval Friary found in England

Archaeologists working in Norwich have unearthed the remains of an Augustine friary which was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538.

Human remains, coins, pottery, oyster shells, animal bones and painted glass have all been discovered by archaeologists working at St Anne’s Wharf – once the site of the 13th century Austin Friars Priory.

And that will provide new information about the religious order which arrived with nothing on marshland on the edge of Norwich and went on to become one of four monastic orders which transformed the city.

Of the houses which those monastic orders built, only St Andrew’s and Blackfriars’ Hall survives, so being able to explore where the Austin Friars were once based is providing important information on the city’s medieval past.

[Full story]

Story: Dan Grimmer, Eastern Daily Press | Photo: Eastern Daily Press

Marble dolphin statue found in Israel

A marble statue depicting a dolphin gripping a fish in its jaws has been unearthed in northern Negev.

Hewn from marble, the 2,000-or-so-year-old statuette surfaced during archaeological excavations near Kibbutz Magen, bordering the Gaza Strip, in March of this year.

The discovery of the dolphin statue amid the ruins of a late Byzantine and early Islamic site in the northern Negev was only announced this week by Israel’s Antiquities Authority.

[Full story]

Story: Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel | Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

Excavation of Antikythera shipwreck to continue

Excavation of the 2,085-year-old Antikythera shipwreck will continue for another 5 years.

The ship, which likely sank between 70 B.C. and 60 B.C. as it trekked west from Asia Minor to Rome, holds plenty of treasure: During the first phase of the project “Return to Antikythera,” which ended in October 2014, undersea explorers found tableware, a lead anchor, a giant bronze spear that may have been part of a statue of a warrior or the goddess Athena, and other artifacts.

With this newly approved extension, researchers will focus on known hotspots for pottery and metal objects; the team hopes to complete a detailed map of the wreck site and excavate treasure and artifacts from the ship.

[Full story]

Story: Elizabeth Goldbaum, LiveScience | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Face of saxon man reconstructed

Forensic experts have recreated the face of a Saxon man who lived between 1035 – 1070 A.D.

“Osteological analysis identified the skeleton as that of a man aged between 36 and 45 years old. He had suffered from a range of degenerative bone diseases suggesting an active and strenuous lifestyle. His body was buried in both a wooden coffin and cloth shroud.

“High-precision radiocarbon dating indicates he died between AD1035 to 1070, just before the Norman Conquest. Isotope analysis of his bones and teeth suggests that he originated in eastern England and could well have been born and bred in Lincolnshire.”

[Full story]

Story: University of Dundee | Photo: University of Dundee

Teens arrested for pocketing Auschwitz artifacts

Two British teenagers on a school trip to Auschwitz have been arrested for pocketing artifacts from the Nazi death camp.

Guards said they had noticed the two 17-year-olds acting suspiciously on Monday near a building where Nazi guards had kept prisoners’ confiscated belongings. When they were searched it was found they had buttons, fragments of glass and parts of a razor on them.

A statement from the Perse School said the students had “attempted to keep some items of historical importance which they had found on the ground.”

“They have apologized unreservedly for the offense they have given, and expressed real remorse for their action,” it read.

[Full story]

Story: DW | Photo: Getty Images, J. Skarzynski

7,000-year-old tool workshop found in Bulgaria

A workshop used to make flint tools from 4800 B.C. has been found in Bulgaria.

A “huge” workshop for flint tools dating back to the Late Chalcolithic, or about 4,500-4,200 years ago, has been discovered by Bulgarian archaeologists in archaeological excavations of a settlement mound near the town of Kamenovo, Razgrad District, in Northeast Bulgaria.

The flint workshop has been found somewhat unexpectedly since the archaeologists started out their digs with the aim of excavating part of a Chalcolithic necropolis.

[Full story]

Story: Ivan Dikov, Archaeology in Bulgaria | Photo: Top Novini Razgrad

Roman ship carrying roof tiles found near Sardinia

The wreckage of a Romain ship which sank 2,000 years ago has been found off the coast of Sardinia, complete with the cargo of roof tiles it was carrying.

The roof tiles, believed to have been produced in or around Rome, were packed into the hold of the vessel, which is 60ft long and 23ft wide.

They were probably going to be used in the construction of a villa for a senior Roman official or wealthy merchant, experts said.

“Given the location of the discovery, archaeologists believe that the vessel was destined for Spain or the west coast of Sardinia,” an official statement said, adding that the find was of “great scientific value”.

[Full story]

Story: Nick Squires, The Telegraph | Photo: Polizia di Stato

2,500-year-old gold bracelets found in Poland

A farmer tending to a field in Poland has uncovered three gold bracelets that date back between 1600-400 B.C.

“These are unique monuments; probably the only of their kind in south-eastern Poland. We will study the place of discovery because we want to determine whether it was a discovery of a treasure, or perhaps remains of a burial ground” – noted Gancarski.

In his opinion, “the objects probably originated from behind the Carpathians”. “At the time, the Carpathian foothills were inhabited by people who came here from behind the Carpathians” – he said.

[Full story]

Story: Science & Scholarship in Poland | Photo: Science & Scholarship in Poland

Swedish 17th century mummy examined

The mummified remains of Peder Winstrup, a bishop who was buried at Lund Cathedral in 1679, has undergone examination.

“We can now observe that Winstrup’s mummy is one of the best-preserved bodies from Europe in the 1600s, with an information potential well in line with that offered by Ötzi the ice man or Egyptian mummies. His remains constitute a unique archive of medical history on the living conditions and health of people living in the 1600s”, says Per Karsten, director of the Historical Museum at Lund University.

Story: Lund Unversity | Photo: Lund University

Historic artifacts found at Bradgate Park

Artifacts spanning thousands of years of history have been uncovered by archaeology students working in Bradgate Park, in Leicestershire, England.

He said: “We have Paleolithic flints, a piece of Roman pot, a medieval building, possible a hunting or keeper’s lodge, and a toy gun, which could be form the 1960s, in one area.

“In another we have a stable block which has produced an abundance of post medieval finds in the overlying rubble – including a musket ball.”

This first foray into uncovering the history of the park will last about six weeks and will give archaeology students a taste of practical fieldwork.

Story: PA Warzynski, Leicester Mercury | Photo: Paul Burrows

Christian mosaic floor unearthed in Nazareth

An early Christian mosaic floor has been uncovered at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

The unearthed mosaic is approximately six feet below the present church level. “The mosaic floor is beautifully decorated with multiple stylized crosses and iconography,” Freund said. The floor was uncovered as a result of ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity studies sponsored by the University of Hartford.

The mosaic is thought to have been created in the fourth century, when Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, came to the Holy Land to establish Christian pilgrim sites for the new religion of Rome.

[Full story]

Story: David Isgur, University of Hartford | Photo: University of Hartford

Modern humans interbred with Neanderthals in Europe

DNA analysis carried out on a 40,000-year-old jawbone found in Romain has revealed that 5-11% of the man’s genome came from a Neanderthal ancestor.

Neandertals became extinct about 40,000 years ago but contributed on average one to three percent to the genomes of present-day Eurasians. Researchers have now analyzed DNA from a 37,000 to 42,000-year-old human mandible from Oase Cave in Romania and have found that six to nine percent of this person’s genome came from Neandertals, more than any other human sequenced to date. Because large segments of this individual’s chromosomes are of Neandertal origin, a Neandertal was among his ancestors as recently as four to six generations back in his family tree. This shows that some of the first modern humans that came to Europe mixed with the local Neandertals.

[Full story]

Story: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | Photo: MPI f. Evolutionary Anthropology/ Pääbo

Huge chimney found at Bacon’s castle

Excavations ahead of the installation of a handicapped parking space at Bacon’s Castle in Virginia has led to the discovery of a mass chimney.

Digging less than 6 inches down, he started hitting old brick and mortar laden with bits of oyster shell, then the U-shaped outline of a massive fireplace measuring more than 10 feet long.

That was followed by a second, equally immense firebox that butted back against the first and faced the other direction.

“What you see is an extraordinarily large, H-shaped chimney base,” says archaeologist Nick Luccketti, head of the James River Institute for Archaeology, which was called in to study and document the unexpected find.

[Full story]

Story: Mark St. John Erickson, Daily Press | Photo: Joe Fudge, Daily Press