Caistor skeleton mystifies archaeologists A skeleton, found at one of the most important, but least understood, Roman sites in Britain is puzzling experts from The University of Nottingham. Dr Will Bowden from the Department of Archaeology, who is leading excavations at the buried town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, said the burial was highly unusual.
An ancient royal discovery A rare and surprising archaeological discovery at Tel Dor: A gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great was uncovered during excavations by an archaeological team directed by Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of the University of Haifa and Dr. Ilan Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
A Georgian cave has yielded what scientists say are the earliest examples of humans making cords. The microscopic fibres, discovered accidentally while scientists were searching for pollen samples, are around 30,000 years old. A team reports in the journal Science that ancient humans probably used the plant fibres to carry tools, weave baskets or make garments. Some of the fibres are coloured and appear to have been dyed.
Ancient wall found in Jerusalem A 3,700-year-old wall has been discovered in east Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists say. The structure was built to protect the city's water supply as part of what dig director Ronny Reich described as the region's earliest fortifications. The 8-m high wall showed the Canaanite people who built it were a sophisticated civilisation, he said.
Prehistoric tools and artifacts discovered at Isles of Shoals Summer students in Cornell's new Archaeology Field School at Shoals Marine Laboratory, Cornell's marine field station, have discovered the first prehistoric archaeological site in the Isles of Shoals, six miles off the Maine and New Hampshire coast.
German Archaeologists Labour to Solve Mystery of the Nok Some 2,500 years ago, a mysterious culture emerged in Nigeria. The Nok people left behind bizarre terracotta statues -- and little else. German archaeologists are now looking for more clues to explain this obscure culture.
Lost city found in Ethiopia Ethiopia is a place where adventurous travellers, if they so desire, can ask directions to the remains of the Queen of Sheba's palace. You can easily stumble upon ancient gold mines and historic fortifications, and you may even discover a lost city. This is exactly what French archaeologists François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar and Bertrand Hirsch did this year, after going in search of the ancient city of Gendebelo.
The 57 tattoos sported by Oetzi, the 5300-year-old Tyrolean iceman mummy, were made from fireplace soot that contained glittering, colourful precious stone crystals, according to an upcoming study in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Obsidian 'trail' provides clues to how humans settled, interacted in Kuril Islands Archaeologists have used stone tools to answer many questions about human ancestors in both the distant and near past and now they are analysing the origin of obsidian flakes to better understand how people settled and interacted in the inhospitable Kuril Islands. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometers, archaeologists from the University of Washington and the Smithsonian Institution have found the origin of 131 flakes of obsidian, a volcanic glass. These small flakes were discarded after stone tools were made from obsidian and were found at 18 sites on eight islands in the Kurils. The flakes were found with other artefacts that were dated over a time period spanning about 1,750 years, from 2500 to 750 years before the present.
A series of training courses will begin next month, aimed at tempting armchair archaeology buffs out of doors and into the field. As part of the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme, members of the public can now participate in a series of archaeological excavation courses - ending up working on one of two digs in the county. The courses centre around the ongoing archaeological work at Cantick and the Cairns, Windwick, South Ronaldsay.