archaeology

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Divers Find Long-Lost Head of Hercules
Divers Make
Herculean Find
at Antikythera
Wreck
in case you missed it

Divers Make Herculean Find at Antikythera Wreck

Once giant boulders were removed, head of Hercules statue found in 1900 emerged

(Newser) - Marine archaeologists have better access to the world's richest ancient shipwreck after boulders were lifted from the Roman-era Antikythera wreck that yielded the famous Antikythera Mechanism calculator, revealing new treasures within. In addition to human teeth, the lead weight for an anchor, iron nails, and the base of a...

Frog Mystery Surfaces at Iron Age Settlement
Frog Mystery
Surfaces at
Iron Age
Settlement
new study

Frog Mystery Surfaces at Iron Age Settlement

Archaeologists can't explain their bones at ancient site

(Newser) - Excavations carried out ahead of highway work in England have revealed a mass grave full of … long-dead frogs. Experts are at a loss to explain the mass of 8,000 bones from roughly 350 frogs and toads, found buried in a long ditch beside an excavated roundhouse at Bar...

Humans Revered Chickens for Centuries Before Eating Them
Long Before Chickens Were
Dinners, They Were Our Pals
NEW STUDIES

Long Before Chickens Were Dinners, They Were Our Pals

These potential spiritual guides only became dinner about 2K years ago, research suggests

(Newser) - Chickens and humans have only been mingling for about 3,500 years, not as long as 10,000 years as previously believed, and for a good chunk of that time our feathered friends were revered, not eaten. That's according to new archaeological research which sees chickens as "actually...

Archaeologists Find 'Lost Civilization' in Bolivia

Discovery upends assumptions and demonstrates game-changing technology

(Newser) - When 16th-century Spanish missionaries first wandered into the tropical lowlands of modern Bolivia, they found a few scattered villages, and everyone since then assumed the area was too inhospitable to support large communities. The region has two harsh seasons, extremely dry and extremely wet, and the dense forest made exploration...

DNA Sequencing Solves Pompeii Mystery

Man who didn't try to flee had spinal condition, researchers say

(Newser) - Scientists say they have fully sequenced the DNA of a Mount Vesuvius victim for the first time—and the genetic information explains why the Pompeii resident didn't flee the eruption nearly 2,000 years ago. According to research published in the journal Scientific Reports , the man's DNA sequence...

Carvings Reveal Multicultural Procession of Ancient Gods

Archaeologists say the carvings suggest an unexpected melding of cultures

(Newser) - “I felt as if I was in a ritual when I was confronted by the very expressive eyes and majestic serious face of the storm god Hadad,” Dr. Mehmet Önal told the New York Times, describing his feelings as he viewed a “procession of almond-eyed deities”...

Small Mummy at Cornell Wasn't What It Seemed

Carol Anne Barsody uncovers misidentified ibis

(Newser) - A football-sized mummy, thought to hold an ancient Egyptian hawk, actually holds "something sacred." When and how the remains ended up at Cornell University are unclear, and it's also unclear why the mummy was mislabeled as a hawk. But Carol Anne Barsody, a master's student in...

Marks on Teeth of 82 Bodies Shed Light on Mass Grave

Burial site in Netherlands filled with Brits dates to War of the First Coalition in late 18th century

(Newser) - Experts believe they finally know why 82 bodies were tossed in a mass grave in the Netherlands in the late 18th century. The skeletons discovered well-preserved in clay outside the historic walls of Vianen in November 2020 belong to mainly British soldiers who were there to fight against the French...

Farmer Working His Fields Makes an Ancient Find

Limestone head is thought to represent the Canaanite goddess Anat

(Newser) - A farmer in the Gaza Strip went to work on Monday and found himself the subject of international news stories days later, all thanks to what he found in the ground. Nidal Abu Eid was plowing his land when he turned up a 4,500-year-old limestone head thought to represent...

Site First Excavated in Early 1900s Gives Up New Find

Ruins of temple to Zeus have been unearthed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

(Newser) - Egyptian archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a temple for the ancient Greek god Zeus in the Sinai Peninsula, antiquities authorities said Monday. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement the temple ruins were found in the Tell el-Farma archaeological site (its ancient name is Pelusium) in northwestern Sinai....

Medieval &#39;Riches&#39; Found Under Notre Dame&#39;s Floor
'Riches' Found Inches Below
Notre Dame's Floor Slabs
in case you missed it

'Riches' Found Inches Below Notre Dame's Floor Slabs

Sarcophagus, fragments of original rood screen are 'extraordinary'

(Newser) - There's an upside to rebuilding after a fire , as archaeologists at France's Notre Dame cathedral have discovered. In preparation for the monument's new spire, to replace the one burned in 2019, workers will build 100-foot-high scaffolding. But before they do, officials asked archeologists to perform a "...

'Really Amazing Artifact' Found at Jesus' Supposed Crucifixion Site

Medieval altar would've stood at apex of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

(Newser) - A medieval altar, apparently long forgotten, has been rediscovered at the supposed site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Recent excavations on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified , buried, and resurrected, revealed a large stone slab, "pressed against a wall...

King Tut's Dagger Came From Outer Space—and Also Syria

Blade was forged of iron long before the start of the Iron Age

(Newser) - King Tut had a sweet dagger. Of course, the young king also had a sweet wardrobe, chariots, shrines, and a horde of other treasures, all discovered in the early 1900s along with his famous mummy. Still, the dagger has always been the source of much conjecture. And it’s not...

'It's 9K Years Old and Everything Was Almost Intact'

Shrine discovered in Jordan desert

(Newser) - A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists said Tuesday that it had found a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan's eastern desert. The ritual complex was found in a Neolithic campsite near large structures known as "desert kites," or mass traps that...

New Technology Reveals Old Structures Near Machu Picchu

They may be the former homes of the keepers of the nearby site of Chachabamba

(Newser) - Long-ago visitors to the famed Incan citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru had to first pass through a ceremonial site known as Chachabamba less than 5 miles away along the Urubamba River. Discovered in the 1940s, Chachabamba consists of a main altar surrounded by 14 baths, where elites would’ve...

Badger Unearths Stash of Ancient Roman Coins

Archaeologists in Spain are grateful

(Newser) - Archaeologists in northern Spain have discovered the largest stash of ancient Roman coins ever found in the region. And they're giving all the credit to a hungry badger, reports the Guardian . Researchers found more than 200 coins, dating back to between the third and fifth century AD, in the...

Mummy That Escaped Others' Fate Gives Up Secrets

Amenhotep I was never unwrapped, unlike other pharaohs found in 19th, 20th centuries

(Newser) - Amenhotep I ruled Egypt from 1525 to 1504 BC, and his mummy managed to escape the fate of many others: Though it was discovered in 1881, it was never unwrapped in modern times, with a press release saying it's the only royal mummy found in the 19th and 20th...

Oldest Known Grave of Baby Girl Found in Europe
Rare Find: Infant Girl
Buried 10K Years Ago
NEW STUDY

Rare Find: Infant Girl Buried 10K Years Ago

Burial suggests females were highly regarded at the time

(Newser) - The earliest known burial of a female infant in Europe has convinced some archaeologists that humans living 10,000 years ago considered females as members of society at birth—a find that might be surprising considering many women didn’t gain personhood under law until the 20th century. The child,...

FBI: Images Show Dark Truth About Renowned Collector

'He was a grave robber,' says an agent of Don Miller

(Newser) - Amateur archaeologists and collectors have long conducted their own unsanctioned digs at sites around the country, flying under the radar of various laws designed to protect, say, ancient burial grounds of Native Americans. They're called "pothunters," and the ethics are squishy. Now, Vanity Fair explores the life...

This Vesuvius Victim 'Vaporized Instantly'

First skeleton found at Herculaneum in decades is stained red by blood

(Newser) - If you had to endure the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii might not have been the worst place to be. While Pompeii residents are believed to have suffocated in a cloud of ash and gases in just 15 minutes, before they were covered in volcanic debris, new excavations at...

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