| Later Stone Age got earlier start in South Africa than thought Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:00 AM PDT The Later Stone Age emerged in South Africa more than 20,000 years earlier than previously believed -- about the same time humans were migrating from Africa to the European continent, says a new international study led by the University of Colorado Boulder. New research led by CU-Boulder on South Africa's Border Cave shows the Later Stone Age emerged more than 20,000 years than previously thought [Credit: Courtesy Paola... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Giant Neo-Hittite sculpture unearthed in Turkey Posted: 30 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT A beautiful and colossal human sculpture is one of the latest cultural treasures unearthed by an international team at the Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP) excavation site in southeastern Turkey. A large semi-circular column base, ornately decorated on one side, was also discovered. Both pieces are from a monumental gate complex that provided access to the upper citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Tomb of Mayan prince discovered in Mexico Posted: 30 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT Researchers in the Department of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn have been digging for four years together with Mexican antiquity authorities from the Mayan city of Uxul in Campeche, Mexico. The aim of the excavation project under the direction of Prof. Dr. Nikolai Grube and Dr. Kai Delvendahl is to research the process of centralization and collapse of hegemonic state structures in the Mayan Lowlands using the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| 250 years of global warming: Berkeley Earth releases new analysis Posted: 30 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT According to a new Berkeley Earth study released July 29, 2012, the average temperature of Earth's land has risen by 1.5 °C over the past 250 years. The good match between the new temperature record and historical carbon dioxide records suggests that the most straightforward explanation for this warming is human greenhouse gas emissions. The temperature of the Earth's land surface, as determined from over 36,000 temperature... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Cool climate, not population loss, led to fewer fires in New World after 1500 Posted: 30 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT In the years after Columbus' voyage, burning of New World forests and fields diminished significantly – a phenomenon some have attributed to decimation of native populations by European diseases. But a new University of Utah-led study suggests global cooling resulted in fewer fires because both preceded Columbus in many regions worldwide. Mitchell Power, of the University of Utah and Natural History Museum of Utah, pulls a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Large wooden bridge of Qin Dynasty found Posted: 30 Jul 2012 04:00 AM PDT Recently, the remains of a large wooden bridge from the period of Emperor Qin Shi Huang were found in the suburbs of Xi'an. Archaeologists excavate the site of the wooden bridge [Credit: Xinhua/Feng Guo] After excavation and research, this wooden bridge proved to the largest wooden bridge in the world around 2,000 years ago. It was made mainly from huge pieces of woods and some stones. The original function of the bridge... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Another neglected monument of the Mughal era in Pakistan Posted: 30 Jul 2012 03:00 AM PDT About 315-year-old Mughal-era national heritage monument, the tomb of Khan-e-Jahan Bahadur Zafar Jang Kokaltash, is a picture of sheer neglect of the Archaeology Department despite being declared a protected monument and national heritage. This tomb is situated on the left side of the Dharampura Canal near the railway crossing. Upon arrival, one can see a steel plaque on the dome of the monument, which reads, "This... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Eating habits of giant Jurassic age dinosaur discovered Posted: 30 Jul 2012 02:00 AM PDT A team of researchers from the University of Bristol, Natural History Museum of London, the University of Missouri and Ohio University has discovered the eating habits of Diplodocus using a three-dimensional model of the dinosaur's skull. The eating habits of the herbivore have been uncertain since its discovery more than 130 years ago. Understanding these behaviors could help scientists better understand extinct and modern ecosystems... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Giant claw in the desert has experts baffled Posted: 30 Jul 2012 01:00 AM PDT Scientists have been making the pilgrimage to the Alcoota Scientific Reserve in the Northern Territory nearly every year since 1985. The Claw' from an unknown species found at the Alcoota Scientific Reserve [Credit: Caddie Brain] The reserve, located about 160 kilometres north east of Alice Springs, is home to the largest and most concentrated fossil deposit of its kind in Australia. The deposit is remote, and so... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| In Egypt, archaeologists reopen tombs to woo tourists Posted: 29 Jul 2012 09:00 AM PDT More than 4,500 years since the paint was first applied, the reds, yellows and blues still stand out on the walls of the tomb of Queen Meresankh III. Paintings and statues of Queen Meresankh III and members of her family inside her tomb at Giza in Egypt on July 24, 2012. Egyptian authorities are opening new tombs in an attempt to woo tourists back to their country, after a slump in the industry since last yeat's revolution... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Ancient mass grave found in cave under Temple Mount Posted: 29 Jul 2012 07:30 AM PDT Remains of thousands of Jews massacred by the Romans on the Temple Mount at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple may have been uncovered in Jerusalem, according to a veteran archaeological journalist. Jews, Christians or Muslims? An image from the film of the skeletons [Credit: Yoav Ari Dudkevitch] During a conference on Thursday at Megalim – the City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies, journalist Benny... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Museum director warns of Syrian cultural losses Posted: 29 Jul 2012 06:30 AM PDT Syria's cultural heritage is seriously under threat from plundering and damage resulting from the current conflict, according to the director of the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art. Syria's rich cultural heritage, which Germany has been heavily involved in researching and restoring, is under serious threat from the war, said Stefan Weber, director of the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art. "Of course we're not just scared... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Castle dig reveals 19th century items Posted: 29 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT A two-day archaeological dig near the site of Northampton Castle revealed some china and clay pipes believed to date back to the 19th century. The event was organised in the playing field of Spring Lane Primary School by Friends of Northampton Castle (FONC) and volunteers were invited to take part in the dig. Items found after two one-and-half-metre deep holes were dug included, pieces of china, clay pipes and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Researchers analyze melting glaciers and water resources in Central Asia Posted: 29 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT After the fall of the Soviet Union twenty years ago, water distribution in Central Asia became a source of conflict. In areas where summer precipitation is low, glaciers play an important role when considering the quantity of available water. a, Hydrological network in Central Asia, including glaciers, main lakes, reservoirs and rivers. Glaciers with mass balance measurements are indicated with numbers corresponding to Fig.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Chronic 2000-04 drought, worst in 800 years, may be the “new normal” Posted: 29 Jul 2012 04:00 AM PDT The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, scientists have concluded, but they say those conditions will become the "new normal" for most of the coming century. Pinyon pine forests near Los Alamos, N.M., had already begun to turn brown from drought stress in the image at left, in 2002, and another photo... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| The fin whale, under more threat in the Mediterranean than thought Posted: 29 Jul 2012 03:00 AM PDT Until now it was thought that fin whales in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea made up part of the distribution of this species of whale in the Mediterranean. However, an international team of scientists led by a Spaniard has revealed that their population has been overestimated by including specimens from the Atlantic that visit at certain times the western Mediterranean, where the noise generated by human activity affects... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Giant ice avalanches on Iapetus provide clue to extreme slippage elsewhere in the solar system Posted: 29 Jul 2012 02:00 AM PDT "We see landslides everywhere in the solar system," says Kelsi Singer, graduate student in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, "but Saturn's icy moon Iapetus has more giant landslides than any body other than Mars." When the rimwall of Iapetus's Malun crater broke off and plunged more than five miles to the crater floor, it surged an astonishing 22 miles out from the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Probing Gravity Posted: 29 Jul 2012 01:00 AM PDT Einstein's theory of relativity is remarkable not only because it is so successful in explaining seemingly bizarre observations (like the bending of starlight) or because it has assembled a coherent picture of nature. One would expect these results from any good theory. Relativity is also amazing because its has shown that the universe behaves in completely non-intuitive ways (at least to humans): time dilates, lengths contract,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Hubble sees a galaxy festooned with stellar nurseries Posted: 29 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT The galaxy NGC 4700 bears the signs of the vigorous birth of many new stars in this image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. A diffuse edge-on disc galaxy with a heart of hot pink star-forming areas [Credit: ESA/NASA] The many bright, pinkish clouds in NGC 4700 are known as H II regions, where intense ultraviolet light from hot young stars is causing nearby hydrogen gas to glow. H II regions often come... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Roman sarcophagus found after 20 years Posted: 28 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT An ancient Roman alabaster sarcophagus, which was stolen more than 20 years ago from a church south of Rome, was returned to Italy on 18 July. It came from the London-based collection of an unnamed antiquities, flown back to Rome on a cargo flight in a container reportedly displaying the official seal of the Italian Embassy in London. The alabaster sarcophagus was presented at a press conference in Rome before it was... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| 'Perplexing' find at Alderney Roman dig Posted: 28 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT Archaeologists have found something "interesting" and "perplexing" at a Roman dig in Alderney. Besides various military uses, the site has also hosted a farm, the residence of the island's governor and holiday homes [Credit: Alice Monaghan]] A team from the island, the UK and Guernsey are excavating land at the fort of the nunnery at Longy Common. The dig is focusing on a gateway and wall but the team said they... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Medieval Royal Estate discovered in Norway Posted: 28 Jul 2012 04:00 AM PDT Archaeologists have discovered the remains of King Håkon Håkonsson former royal residency from the Middle Ages at Avaldsnes in Western Norway. The "North-Way" towards the south [Credit: Erik Kallevik, The Royal Manor Project] "This is the only royal residence in the countryside from the Middle Ages that we know of, says Professor of Archaeology at the University of Oslo, Dagfinn Skree. Archaeologists have... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Efforts to register Minoan Monuments as UNESCO Protected Heritage Posted: 28 Jul 2012 03:00 AM PDT Efforts to register Knosos on the UNESCO World Heritage lists may have proven vain so far, particularly due to the urban sprawl all around it; however, it appears that the nomination will have greater success now. North Pillar Hall & North Entrance at Knossos [Credit: TANN] A new file will reportedly be prepared, which will include the whole Minoan Civilization monuments, namely not only Knosos, but also Festos, Zakros... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| More on Archaeologists uncover Palaeolithic ceramic art Posted: 28 Jul 2012 02:00 AM PDT An international team of archaeologists has uncovered the first evidence of ceramic figurative art in late Upper Paleolithic Europe – from about 17,500 years ago, thousands of years before pottery was commonly used. 36 ceramics artifacts found at the archaeological site of Vela Spila, Croatia [Credit: Rebecca Farbstein / PLoS ONE] The evidence of a community of prehistoric artists and craftspeople who 'invented' ceramics... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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| Abbey dig yields 'amazing' finds Posted: 28 Jul 2012 01:00 AM PDT Part of a medieval floor and some ancient coins are among the 'amazing' finds that have already been uncovered at this year's archaeological dig at Polesworth Abbey. The scene of the dig at Polesworth Abbey [Credit: This is Tamworth] Dig the Abbey 2012 started last week and follows a successful six-week dig last year. Father Philip Wells, who heads the project, said: "Despite the rain last week, some amazing finds were... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 
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