archaeology

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Dig at Shakespeare Theater Reveals a Surprise

It was rectangular, not circular; and toys for sound effects were found

(Newser) - The Bard was truly ahead of his time—and not only because of his way with words. Archaeologists digging at one of London's oldest playhouses , where Shakespeare's company performed from 1597 to 1599, have found a ceramic bird whistle they believe was used for sound effects—perhaps during...

Divers Find Roman-Era 'Trash' Saved by Shipwreck

Merchant ship sank off Israel 1.6K years ago

(Newser) - A Roman-era treasure trove has been retrieved thanks to two strokes of luck. The first happened 1,600 years ago when a merchant ship carrying the statues and coins to be recycled sank in the ancient port of Caesarea in Israel. The second came last month when two divers discovered...

Egypt Accused of Hiding the Truth About Tut's Tomb

Cairo 'in denial' over scan's failure to find hidden chambers, scientist says

(Newser) - The curse of the pharaohs, or politics as usual? The controversy over supposed hidden chambers in King Tutankhamun's tomb has become even more complicated, with allegations that Egyptian officials are trying to suppress evidence that the chambers are not there after all . A radar scan last November by Japanese...

Archaeologists Find World&#39;s Oldest Axe
 Archaeologists 
 Find World's 
 Oldest Ax 
NEW STUDY
May 11, 2016 6:48 AM CDT

Archaeologists Find World's Oldest Ax

Only Japan comes close to harboring axes as old as fragment found in Australia

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Australia have found a fragment of an ax far older than any other ever found, evidence that the continent's first Aboriginal people were considerably more sophisticated with toolmaking than they've been given credit for. "We are rewriting history here," Sydney University archaeologist Peter Hiscock...

Teen's Stellar Theory Leads to Lost Mayan City

His dream is to one day visit the site

(Newser) - William Gadoury has spent a fifth of his life researching the ancient Maya, and the 15-year-old's effort has just paid off in a big way—with the apparent discovery of a lost city. "I did not understand why the Maya built their cities away from rivers, on marginal...

Ancient Proof of Mother's Love Unearthed in Taiwan

4,800-year-old human fossil is of mother, baby

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Taiwan were "shocked" to unearth a 4,800-year-old human fossil of a mother cradling an infant in her arms. The discovery, among 48 sets of remains excavated from graves in the Taichung area, represents the earliest trace of human activity in central Taiwan, according to Reuters . "...

Workers Laying Pipes Unearth Coins—1,300 Pounds of Them

Their mint condition suggests they were never in circulation

(Newser) - What should've been a simple maintenance project involving new water pipes in Spain has become something else entirely. Construction workers near Seville Wednesday stumbled upon about 1,300 pounds of bronze Roman coins from the third and fourth centuries crammed into 19 ancient amphoras, the AFP reports. The Washington ...

Dig at Malcolm X House Reveals Surprise Find

Evidence suggests 18th-century home was built nearby

(Newser) - A " now-or-never dig " at the childhood home of Malcolm X has revealed a surprising find—just not related to the civil rights activist, writes the AP . "We've come onto a whole layer, roughly two feet down and across the whole site, that's absolutely filled with...

Ancient Letters Reveal Bible Bombshell

Parts likely written 2.6K years ago: study

(Newser) - "A full homer of wine, bring tomorrow; don't be late." That command, written on pottery excavated near the Dead Sea, not only shows soldiers liked to drink in the Kingdom of Judah around 600BC. It might also push back the date of the Old Testament. In analyzing...

Lone Bullet Backs Up Lawrence of Arabia's Story

Scientists have unearthed evidence that aligns with tales from Great Arab Revolt

(Newser) - Ten years into a broader hunt throughout the Arabian desert, archaeologists have unearthed a bullet they are "almost 100% certain" is the one Lawrence of Arabia claimed to have fired in 1917 in a guerrilla attack on the Hallat Ammar train. Many, including his own biographers, have suspected that...

Tablets in Ancient Grave Placed an Odd Curse

Greek curse-writer targeted owners of taverns

(Newser) - Talk about holding a grudge. Five lead tablets buried in the grave of a young Greek woman about 2,400 years ago bear curses against four tavern-keepers in Athens, LiveScience reports. Apparently, burying the tablets was thought to put the curses closer to gods who could fulfill them. "Cast...

Huge Discovery About Vikings Just Came From Space

They may have made it further into America than we ever knew

(Newser) - A "high-tech Indiana Jones" may have just done what no one else has been able to for 55 years: find a second Viking settlement in North America, the Washington Post reports. "Typically in archaeology, you only ever get to write a footnote in the history books, but what...

Humans and 'Unicorns' May Have Coexisted

Research finds the 'Siberian unicorn' is much younger than we thought

(Newser) - Unicorns are real, and they're a lot younger than we thought. Researchers from Russia's Tomsk State University were digging at a fossil site in Kazakhstan when they found bones belonging to the Elasmotherium sibiricum, otherwise known as the "Siberian unicorn," Huffington Post reports. According to IFL...

Archaeologists Dig at Malcolm X's Childhood Home

They're hoping to learn more about his early life

(Newser) - Archaeologists are digging at a boyhood home of Malcolm X in an effort to uncover more about the slain black rights activist's early life as well as the property's long history, which possibly includes Native American settlement. The two-week archaeological dig began Tuesday outside a two-and-a-half story home...

The Last Supper of Jesus Didn't Happen at a Table

And the menu was a little better than bread and wine

(Newser) - The image of the Last Supper as famously painted by Leonardo Da Vinci—Jesus and his followers seated around a large table, bread, wine—is a lasting one. It's also entirely inaccurate, according to two Italian archeologists. Discovery reports Generoso Urciuoli and Marta Berogno studied Jewish writings, ancient Roman...

Bear Bone Found in 1903 Alters the Story of Ireland

Butchered knee bone indicates man on the island 12.5K years ago

(Newser) - A single bear bone has transformed what we thought we knew about Irish history, showing humans were tromping through the country 2,500 years earlier than history books claim. The bone with seven cuts from a sharp tool was found among thousands of bones in a cave on the island'...

Newly Discovered Prehistoric Puppy Still Has Fur, Brain

And a 'controversial' scientist wants to clone it

(Newser) - Scientists are poised to learn a lot more about prehistoric man's best friend after discovering a shockingly well-preserved 12,400-year-old puppy in Siberia, the Telegraph reports. The mummified Pleistocene canid—almost certainly an extinct species—is believed to have been killed by a landslide near the village of Tumat,...

Filmmakers Ignore Curse, Scan Grave of Shakespeare

Findings to be revealed in Channel 4 documentary

(Newser) - Visitors to the grave of William Shakespeare can't help but notice this to-the-point inscription: "Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed be he that moves my bones," it reads (with the spelling cleaned up). Curse or not, a group of documentary filmmakers has begun...

We'll Soon Know If Tut's Tomb Holds Secrets

Press conference will follow April 2 radar examinations

(Newser) - First came the theory, then a dribble of updates: In August 2015, University of Arizona archaeologist Nicholas Reeves made the case that Tutankhamun's tomb also holds the remains of Nefertiti . Egyptian authorities had no comment at the time, but three months later, a duo of stories seemed to lend...

Prison Grave May Hold Real Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Martha Brown believed to be Thomas Hardy's inspiration

(Newser) - Thomas Hardy fans, prepare to geek out. Archaeologists may have uncovered the remains of a woman whose execution is said to have inspired the death of the main character in Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Back in 1856, a 16-year-old Hardy was among a crowd of 4,000 that gathered...

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