Classical Archaeology News

Eat like an Olympic victor, circa 700BCE-200CE “The...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:21:52 -0500

Eat like an Olympic victor, circa 700BCE-200CE

“The athletes of this era partook in the diet of an active body, but one that was not terribly different from a standard Greek diet. They ate whole grain breads or porridges, dry figs and feta-like cheeses, like most Greeks would have, but the sources are surprisingly silent on the matter of fish which would have been a part of the standard Greek diet. It was a diet high on natural fibres and calcium, minerals and protein, while being moderately slow in terms of blood sugar, promoting well-rounded good health.”

Tutankhamun Discoverer Carter’s Rest House Opened as...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:13:01 -0500

Tutankhamun Discoverer Carter’s Rest House Opened as Museum

Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Silver Treasure in Thracian...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:38:21 -0500

Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Silver Treasure in Thracian Tomb

“A team of Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a new tomb of an aristocrat from Ancient Thrace near the southern town of Nova Zagora.

“The team led by archaeologist Veselin Ignatov found a burial tomb of 12 square meters date back to the end of 1st century and beginning of 2nd century AD. It is located outside of the village of Karanovo.

“The burial site of the Thracian aristocrat contains a number of interesting items including a silver treasure of vessels and artifacts that were place there to be used by the aristocrat in his afterlife.

“Those include two silver cups with images of love god Eros, and a number of other ornate silver and bronze vessels.”

Uncanny Archaeology: A look at the archaeology of Halloween,...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:55:17 -0400

Uncanny Archaeology: A look at the archaeology of Halloween, witches and witchcraft, creatures of the night, and ancient curses and magic.

Remember the “plague vampire”?

In Europe, Artifacts Are Latest Political Pawns “As...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:56:37 -0400

In Europe, Artifacts Are Latest Political Pawns

“As thousands lined up to catch a glimpse of Nefertiti at the newly reopened Neues Museum here, another skirmish erupted in the culture wars. Egypt’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, announced that his country wanted its queen handed back forthwith, unless Germany could prove that the 3,500-year-old bust of Akhenaten’s wife wasn’t spirited illegally out of Egypt nearly a century ago.”

Pink Pyramids of Giza Send Global Message of Breast Cancer...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:54:12 -0400

Pink Pyramids of Giza Send Global Message of Breast Cancer Awareness

Not strictly archaeology-related, but who doesn’t love a pink pyramid?

“On the eve of the historic Egypt Race for the Cure^® at the Pyramids of Giza, and thanks to the support of GE Healthcare, Egyptian and United States collaborating organizations lit the Pyramids pink and sent a message of breast cancer awareness throughout the world”

World’s Oldest Statue to go on Show in Rome “Ancient...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:17:41 -0400

World’s Oldest Statue to go on Show in Rome

“Ancient artworks from Jordan – some of them never before seen outside Petra and Amman - are going on display today at Rome’s Quirinal Palace. The star attraction at the exhibition is a statue found at the site of Ayn Ghazal near Amman dating from 7500 BC, one of the oldest surviving statues of its kind and size.”

A banana republic police HQ maybe, but not a home for the Elgin...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:53:02 -0400

A banana republic police HQ maybe, but not a home for the Elgin marbles

Wow. Simon Jenkins really does not like the new Acropolis Museum: “It is the most costly poison-pen letter in the history of cultural exchange.”

Roman Venice Discovered “Thousands of planes leave...

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:35:27 -0400

Roman Venice Discovered

“Thousands of planes leave Venice’s Marco Polo Airport every year, flying north over corn and soybean fields before turning out over the Adriatic Sea. But until a University of Padua geology team combined aerial photographs, satellite images, and a digital terrain model of the area seven miles from the airport, no one had seen Altinum, an ancient Roman city that lies only five feet below the surface. Altinum is one of very few Roman cities in Europe, and the only one in northern Italy that was not built over after it was abandoned in the seventh century A.D.”

Roman Bath Dating Back to the Hellenistic Era Unearthed in Syria

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:42:22 -0400

Roman Bath Dating Back to the Hellenistic Era Unearthed in Syria:

“Archaeological excavations at the northern part of Iz al-Din al-Qassam School near the ancient Roman Theater uncovered a Roman bath of 725 square meters including many platforms in Jableh city near Lattakia (Syrian Coast).
“The building walls were built of trimmed stones in which a stone well and sewing shop dating back to the Hellenistic era from the 1st century to the 3rd century B. C. were found, Director of Antiquities and Museums in Jableh Ibrahim Kheir Beik said on Thursday.”

Vesuvius Volcano: 79 AD Eruption

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:41:00 -0400

Vesuvius Volcano: 79 AD Eruption:

“This is an educational website designed to help students learn about the processes of explosive volcanic activity through the use of inquiry-based techniques. The exercises use the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius volcano in Italy as a type example of a large explosive eruption that had a significant impact on the local human population.”

Body Part Mummified With Egyptian Recipe “Swiss...

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:58:04 -0400

Body Part Mummified With Egyptian Recipe

“Swiss researchers have succeeded in mummifying a body part using the salty recipe of the ancient Egyptians.

“

The experiment, which has been running for more than four months, takes inspiration from a 1994 study by Ronald Wade, director of Maryland’s State Anatomical Board, and Bob Brier, one of the leading experts on mummies and Egyptology.

During that study, Brier and Wade replicated for the first time Egyptian mummification using the tools and procedures of the ancient embalmers.

“We are trying to improve on that important experiment using the most up-to-date methods, such as radiological technology, magnetic resonance imaging and computer tomography. It’s a unique project, the first of its kind,” Swiss anatomist and paleopathologist Frank Ruhli told Discovery News.

While Brier and Wade used a complete male body, Ruhli, head of the Swiss Mummy Project at the University of Zurich, used two legs which were severed from a female donor body.”

Lots more detail at the link.

James Robertson - Hadrian’s Library Athens, 1884 via...

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:51:37 -0400

James Robertson - Hadrian’s Library Athens, 1884

via superfluidity:crashinglybeautiful

Ancient Artisans’ Footprints Discovered Beneath Lod...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:42:00 -0400

Ancient Artisans’ Footprints Discovered Beneath Lod Mosaic

“The ancient footprints of the artisans who built a stunning 1,700-year-old mosaic floor in Lod were discovered recently, when conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were in the process of detaching the huge work of art from the ground.

“As the conservation experts worked on the plaster bedding to be done before detaching the mosaic, they were surprised to notice there were ancient foot and sandal prints beneath it. Clearly, the builders that had worked on the floor sometimes wore their sandals, and sometimes worked in their bare feet.”

Returned Artifacts Displayed in Kabul “The National Museum...

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:38:46 -0400

Returned Artifacts Displayed in Kabul

“The National Museum was celebrating the return of about 2,000 artifacts that had been smuggled into Britain over the years of war in Afghanistan. British authorities confiscated the smuggled items and, after several years spent figuring out where the artifacts had come from, sent them back to Afghanistan in February.

…

“A fghanistan founded the museum in the 1920s, shortly after the country gained full control over its affairs from Britain. Situated at the crossroads of four great civilizations — Chinese, Central Asian, Indian and Persian — Afghanistan is a treasure trove for archaeologists.

…

“The items from Britain are not the first to be returned. About 13,000 artifacts have come back to Afghanistan from Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and the United States since the Taliban fell in 2001, according to [museum director] Masoudi.”

Riace Bronzes to Rome “Two jealously guarded ancient ...

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:57:14 -0400

Riace Bronzes to Rome

“Two jealously guarded ancient Greek statues are to be allowed out of their Calabrian home for a one-off ‘check-up’ in Rome.

“The priceless 2,500-year-old Riace Bronzes will leave the Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria ahead of a museum revamp for the 150th anniversary of Italian unification in 2011, officials said Thursday.

…

“They have only left Calabria once since they were discovered in the sea off Reggio almost 40 years ago - a round-Italy trip in 1981 that sold out venues in Rome, Florence and Milan. Calabrian Archeological Superintendent Simonetta Bonomi said their stay in Rome, for a ‘conservative’ clean-up at the National Restoration Institute, would be ‘as short as possible’.”

Archaeologists Discover 4-Century BC Royal Burial Vault near Prilep, Macedonia

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:33:06 -0400

Archaeologists Discover 4-Century BC Royal Burial Vault near Prilep, Macedonia:

“A royal burial vault was discovered by arcaheologists in the area of Pavla chuka, between the villages of Bonche and Podmol near the town of Prilep in southern Macedonia.
“The circular vault dates to the fourth century BC, the Vecher newspaper reported today. It has a diameter of 30 metres and is made of monolithic stones, each of them weighting two tons, which are undamaged although they are 2,500 years old.”

Whatever happened to all the Neros? “Archaeologists...

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:46:00 -0400

Whatever happened to all the Neros?

“Archaeologists believe a statue of a boy’s head may be a depiction of one of the most hated Roman Emperors.

“The head found at Fishbourne Roman Palace, West Sussex, will undergo a 3D scan to see if it is a rare marble statue of Emperor Nero as a young boy.

“Every other depiction of him was destroyed when he committed suicide after being declared an enemy of the state in AD 68.

“The Fishbourne statue was found in 1964, but until recently it was always believed to be that of King Togidubnes or a member of his family.”

NB: Not every statue of Nero was destroyed after his death.

Head looks fishy to me as a Nero, but I’ll be interested to see what gets found out.

Pompeii, The House of Marcus Lucretius

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:41:32 -0400

Pompeii, The House of Marcus Lucretius:

A very nice virtual tour of the house based upon Paavo Castren’s excavations and the recent exhibition and book on the Pompeian residence.

UK dig finds Roman amphitheatre “British archaeologists...

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:08:53 -0400

UK dig finds Roman amphitheatre

“British archaeologists have unearthed an amphitheatre at a ancient port outside Rome which may have played host to emperors such as Hadrian and Trajan.

“The team, led by the University of Southampton, say the arena could have held up to 2,000 people and been used for gladiator games or animal baiting.

“It was found inside a gigantic imperial-style palace within the well-preserved old harbour of Portus.”