david meadows
2022-02-13 16:42:25 UTC
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explorator 24.43 February 13, 2022
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You can read explorator online at:
https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,
Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley,
Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Nadia Durrani,
Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week
(as always hoping I have left no one out).
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EARLY HOMINIDS
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Alternating Neanderthal and sapiens remains in a French cave are suggesting sapiens was in that part of Europe about 10 000 years earlier than previously thought:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-french-cave-story-neanderthals-early.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-homo-sapiens-europe-earlier-thought.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/09/neanderthal-pompeii-dig-places-humans-in-europe-earlier-than-thought
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60305218
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/science-and-technology/stone-age-western-europe-history-b2011423.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10494933/Archaeology-Fossilised-modern-human-childs-molar-54-000-YEARS-ago-French-cave.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/science/neanderthals-cave-france.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-cave-tells-new-story-about-neanderthals-early-humans/2022/02/09/f41fe7ac-89da-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://apnews.com/article/science-europe-france-caves-fossils-642207a40773a229ea65925574eede2b
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/french-cave-tells-story-neanderthals-early-humans-82777617
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220209-study-places-homo-sapiens-in-europe-earlier-than-thought
https://www.timesofisrael.com/homo-sapiens-and-neanderthals-alternately-lived-in-the-same-cave-study-says/
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-696092
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-sapiens-humans-europe-migration-earlier-france-rock-shelter
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/modern-humans-tried-but-failed-to-colonize-europe-54-000-years-ago-1.10601917
https://www.science.org/content/article/did-neanderthals-and-modern-humans-take-turns-living-french-cave
https://www.zmescience.com/science/modern-humans-lived-neanderthal-territory-10022022/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00389-9
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/scientists-discover-earliest-known.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/discovery-of-a-baby-tooth-places-humans-in-western-europe-10000-years-earlier-than-previously-thought-180979556/
https://the-past.com/news/neanderthals-and-modern-humans-alternately-occupied-a-rock-shelter-in-southern-france/
cf: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj9496
Neanderthal tools from a cave site in Croatia:
https://www.croatiaweek.com/big-discovery-in-croatia-neanderthal-tools-found-in-upper-barac-cave/
More on Neanderthals building fires in Lazaret cave 150 000 years bp:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/08/1078898515/cave-campfire-neanderthal
https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/early-humans-cave-fires/
https://www.latercera.com/que-pasa/noticia/los-primeros-humanos-ya-sabian-como-construir-y-utilizar-el-espacio-de-manera-optima/7NW3OTFTIBGZNMWP5H63MGIAWI/
More on a 1.5 million years bp vertebra from the Jordan Valley and its implications for 'Out of Africa':
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-human-vertebra-found-israel
https://bigthink.com/the-past/out-of-africa-events/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/1-5-million-year-old-vertebra-hints-at-a-story-of-early-human-migration/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10327-220208-israel-migration-evolution
More on the question of whether cooking skills/eating meat 'made us human':
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-02-07/did-eating-meat-really-make-us-human.html
https://elpais.com/ciencia/2022-02-05/comer-carne-nos-hizo-humanos.html
More on human settlement on the Arabian peninsula being less influenced by climate than previously thought:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-696323
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AFRICA
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Feature on the Benin bronzes:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-60326279
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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A 6th century BCE 'cachette' of materials used in the mummification process from Abusir:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1207/460759/AlAhram-Weekly/Heritage/Embalming-cachette-found.aspx
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112754/Discovery-of-a-cache-of-embalming-materials-in-Egypt%E2%80%99s-Abu
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63328
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-egyptian-embalming-cache/142739
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-largest-embalming-cache-ever-found.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/the-largest-embalming-cache-ever-found-in-egypt-unearthed-at-abusir/
20 well-preserved 2000 years bp mummies from a necropolis in West Aswan:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/20-ancient-mummies-discovered-aswan-tomb
Remains of a Roman-era necropolis from the Gaza strip (much looted):
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/ancient-burial-place-uncovered-gaza-construction-site
More on the 18 000 potsherds/ostraka from Athribis:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112679/Largest-collection-of-ancient-Egyptian-%E2%80%98notebooks%E2%80%99-discovered
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-egypt-athribis-ostraca/index.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-egypt-talking-in-class-thats-a-hundred-lines-cleopatra-j7pvwd37l
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/ancient-notepads-greek-egypt/
https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-egyptian-children-did-lines-punishment-bart-simpson-athribis-tell-atrib-1676859
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/huge-discovery-of-egyptian-texts-gives-glimpses-into-ancient-life/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-18000-ancient-egyptian-ostraca-180979543/
How Egypt regulates foreign archaeological missions:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/112815/Look-into-law-How-Egypt-regulates-foreign-archaeological-excavation-missions
Feature on the coffin and mummy of Pa-ankh-en-Amun (in the US):
https://www.artic.edu/interactive-features/coffin-and-mummy-of-pa-ankh-en-amun
Feature on how Nefertiti's bust ended up in Germany:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-enigmatic-nefertiti-came-to-be-locked-away-in-germany
Archaeologists have commenced work at Iran's historical port of Najirom:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/469980/Archaeological-survey-begins-on-Persian-Gulf-s-historical-port
A 15th/16th century 'rock-carved' inscription and some stairs from a site in Iran's Marvdasht plain:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/469922/Rock-carved-inscription-stairs-discovered-in-southern-Iranian
Studying an 'orphaned' collection of artifacts from Irans Ganj Dareh site excavated in th 60s and 70s:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeological-archives-rediscover-iran-treasure.html
cf: https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeological-archives-rediscover-iran-treasure.html
Feature on the fall of the Hittites:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/the-fall-of-the-hittites/142712
Feature on who the 'Sumerians' were:
https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2022/02/were-there-sumerians
Feature on fortifications in the Ancient Near East;
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/biblical-archaeology-topics/biblical-archaeology-basics/bar-jr-five-ways-to-defend-an-ancient-city/
Feature on the tomb of Queen Pu-abi and the textiles found there:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ur-queen-puabi-mesopotamia-textiles
A study of pair of Byzantine-era swords found in the 20+ years ago in Amorium (Turkey):
https://www.livescience.com/rare-byzantine-swords-discovered
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10324-220207-turkey-byzantine-swords
A nice photoessay on sites in Jordan:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/travel/jordan-petra-road-trip.html
Analysis of some 3500 years bp lead ingots from Caesarea is pointing to trade relations between Sardinia and Cyprus in the Bronze Age:
https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/hj06bvmjc
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220211/a6a3e59acc6243a6ab65256b6ee9353d/c.html
Latest claim that the Vatican has items taken from the Temple:
https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/article-696068
Evidence of a 3600 years bp settlement site in Qatar:
https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2022/01/evidence-of-3600-year-old-settlement-uncovered-in-eastern-arabian-peninsula/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10326-220208-qatar-desert-settlement
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/09/evidence-of-3600-year-old-settlement-found-in-eastern-arabian-peninsula/
Syria and the UAE have signed an MOU relating to archiving of Syrian artifacts:
https://sana.sy/en/?p=262968
Archaeologist's have confirmed that Al Sayah Island was man-made at least 1200 years bp:
https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/78694.html
Feature on the Fourth Crusade:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-07/uno-de-los-episodios-mas-insolitos-de-la-edad-media-la-cruzada-que-se-desvio-para-tomar-a-sangre-y-fuego-la-mayor-ciudad-cristiana.html
-----
This Week in the Ancient Near East Podcast:
https://thisweekintheancientneareast.podbean.com/
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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Overviewish report on this year's digs at the Mycenean site of Kastelli in Chania:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/preliminary-results-of-the-excavation-on-the-hill-of-kastelli-in-chania/
... and similar treatment for this year's work at the long-inhabitied site of Vlochos:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/09/travels-to-the-ancient-city-at-vlochos-palamas/
Remains of a Republic-era Roman bridge on the via Tiburtina (Italia):
https://www.archeomedia.net/roma-scoperto-un-ponte-romano-di-eta-repubblicana-sulla-via-tiburtina/
Storms revealed a stone altar at the Vindolanda site:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/vindolanda-first-find-2022-altar-22984628
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63322
This week, coverage of the Roman finds at Aylesbury focus more on other things found in the town (more on the beheaded burials below):
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeologists-small-roman-town-excavated.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/small-roman-town-excavated-near.html
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10325-220208-england-roman-town
Brief item on the accidental find of a 2nd century CE site in Tripoli:
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/inbrief/archaeological-site-dating-back-2nd-century-ad-discovered-tripoli
A 1st/2nd century Roman necropolis from San Severino (all coverage in Italian so far):
https://storiearcheostorie.com/2022/02/08/scoperte-a-san-severino-marche-mc-torna-alla-luce-una-necropoli-romana/
https://www.corriereadriatico.it/macerata/san_severino_ultime_notizie_archeologia_soprintendenza_complesso_funerario_romano-6491245.html
I think we mentioned this Roman mosaic find from Hvar:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63355
Plenty of attention for the identification of a 1500 years bp Roman chamber pot (from residue of course):
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-portable-toilets-ancient-roman-world.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211080609.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211080609.htm
https://news.ubc.ca/2022/02/11/identifying-the-portable-toilets-of-the-ancient-roman-world/
https://www.livescience.com/roman-empire-port-o-potty
https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-696224
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/science/archaeology-rome-toilet.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10499489/Archaeology-Roman-PORTALOO-contains-crusty-material-1-500-year-old-intestinal-parasites.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/11/roman-women-used-private-bathrooms-instead-sharing-men/
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/874/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/874/pub/874/page/35/article/271977
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/this-ancient-roman-ceramic-pot-was-probably-a-portable-toilet-study-finds/
https://www.sciencealert.com/conical-storage-pots-found-near-roman-latrines-held-just-what-you-d-think
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/new-research-identifies-roman-jars-used-as-chamber-pots/142742
cf: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X22000128
Study confirms use of gypsum in Greek white ground vases:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/archaeometric-study-confirms-ancient.html
Some damage caused at Bar Hill Fort by illegal metal detecting:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/roman-fort-damaged-by-suspected-illegal-metal-detecting-41338362.html
https://www.forres-gazette.co.uk/news/national/roman-fort-damaged-by-suspected-illegal-metal-detecting-40778/
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/roman-fort-damaged-suspected-illegal-163303403.html
Concerns that a monument planned at Colchester will harm part of the Roman circus site:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-60310669
Invasive plants apparently are threatening some of Rome's monuments:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/invasive-plants-are-threatening-romes-ancient-monuments
The Roman theatre at Sabratha was officially inaugurated after renovation work:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/europe/20220210/300e6c844e3b49be9da684e93143548f/c.html
Nice followup to that 'Christian' ring found in the waters off Caesarea:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-an-ancient-ring-found-in-a-shipwreck-depict-jesus-christ
A study of the Dama de Elche cautions against moving it:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-10/el-analisis-de-la-dama-de-elche-desaconseja-su-traslado-porque-generaria-danos-en-la-roca.html
More on the burials (many decapitated) from a 2000 years bp necropolis near Aylesbury:
https://www.livescience.com/decapitated-roman-skeletons-uncovered-in-england
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/19903206.skeletons-murder-victims-hs2-finds-near-aylesbury/
https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/19905241.cotswold-archaeologists-discover-roman-bodies-hs2-work/
http://egypttoday.com/Article/4/112601/Horrific-discovery-of-dozens-of-headless-skeletons-in-Britain
https://www.sciencealert.com/archeologists-find-40-beheaded-roman-skeletons-with-skulls-between-their-legs
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dozens-of-decapitated-skeletons-found-at-roman-cemetery-in-england-180979533/
More on the Chalcidian helmets found at Velia:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unearthed-ancient-greek-helmets-tell-of-a-naval-battle-2500-years-ago-180979510/
Barbara Graziosi on the myth of Homer:
https://fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/homer-and-the-perils-of-bad-lecturing/article_5d2afe12-c655-52e0-a23e-23cd96a2e8fd.html
Feature/interview with Edith Hall:
https://www.palatinate.org.uk/edith-hall-if-you-cant-be-a-proper-moral-agent-then-youre-never-going-to-be-truly-happy/
Reviewish piece on John W.I. Lee's biography of John Wesley Gilbert:
https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2022/020542/scholar-ages
Putting Classics in a Black History Month context:
https://www.oakpark.com/2022/02/09/between-virgil-and-dr-carter-g-woodson/
Pondering the 'captain of the Blacks' fresco from Knossos:
https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/captain-blacks-fresco/
Augustus apparently 'cemented over' the site of Caesar's assassination:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-02/augusto-intento-borrar-bajo-el-hormigon-el-lugar-donde-fue-asesinado-julio-cesar.html
Feature on the recently-auctioned Hamilton Aphrodite:
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/art-and-antiques/in-focus-the-hamilton-aphrodite-the-finest-ancient-sculpture-ever-to-have-resided-in-scotland-and-how-it-smashed-its-3-million-estimate-238587
Latest Antikythera mechanism piece suggests (on what basis?) it was designed by Archimedes:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/antikythera-mechanism-archimedes/
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/tourism-businesses/thematic-tourism/46428-experts-antikythera-mechanism-designed-by-ancient-greek-genius-archimedes.html
Feature on the Scythians:
https://www.livescience.com/who-were-the-scythians
Feature on seven inventions credited to the Romans:
https://www.livescience.com/roman-inventions
Feature on Antinous in Victorian times:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/655299/antinous-gay-code-word-victorian-era
Feature on Troy:
https://www.livescience.com/38191-ancient-troy.html
Feature on ancient Greek art:
https://www.artic.edu/highlights/46/ancient-greek-art
Feature on lessons from Thucydides:
https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/p/ancient-advice-for-modern-foreign
Feature on the Little Theatre of Epidaurus:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177098/resurrecting-the-ancient-little-theater-of-epidaurus/
Feature on pankration:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/02/09/pankration-greek-olympics-ufc-mma/
Feature on the ancient Roman diet:
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/what-did-ancient-romans-eat.html
Feature on ancient paganism and modern religion:
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/ancient-paganism-and-modern-religion/
Feature on manual labour and Musonius Rufus:
https://psyche.co/ideas/for-the-stoic-musonius-rufus-manual-work-is-philosophy-too
Feature on the site and finds from Dion (Macedonia):
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/07/ancient-dion-macedonia-greece/
Feature on the Furies:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/furies-ancient-greek-mythology/
Feature on ancient Greek 'special forces':
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/05/special-forces-ancient-greece/
Feature on ancient Greek timekeeping:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/ancient-greeks-measured-time/
Feature on the curse of the House of Atreus:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/curse-house-atreus-greek-mythology/
Feature on the Lion of Kea:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/07/lion-kea-ancient-greece/
How Zeno's paradox was resolved:
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/zenos-paradox/
Pondering ancient ideas of free speech:
https://bigthink.com/the-past/free-speech-mchangama/
In Parthenon Sculptures news this week, the Greek press liked Charlotte Higgins' Guardian piece last week:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/02/06/the-parthenon-marbles-belong-in-greece-the-guardian-says/
https://www.thenationalherald.com/the-guardian-too-says-stolen-parthenon-marbles-belong-in-greece/
... and there were suggestions that returning them would be a 'lovely Jubilee gesture':
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/08/parthenon-marbles-return-would-be-a-lovely-jubilee-gesture
... and that Boris Johnson should arrange the return in his 'final days':
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-british-museum-parthenon-marbles-parkinson-prime-minister-b981475.html
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/19909027.boris-johnson-in-final-days-arrange-return-parthenon-marbles/
... and plenty of coverage of Greece lending a statue of Athena to the Palermo museum that lent Greece the fragment they had:
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2022/02/10/athena-in-palermo-as-parthenon-frieze-returned-to-athens_ffa06cf8-2168-4104-a540-08d9c26523cb.html
https://apnews.com/article/travel-europe-greece-palermo-athens-bc982bde3ea92c8016c51273ceaa6729
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/greek-statue-lent-to-italy-in-exchange-for-parthenon-gesture/2022/02/09/12212886-89c9-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/greek-statue-lent-italy-exchange-parthenon-gesture-82774418
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/greece-loans-statue-italy/
https://neoskosmos.com/en/2022/02/11/news/greece/statue-of-athena-from-acropolis-museum-to-be-exhibited-in-palermo-for-the-next-four-years/
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177193/acropolis-museum-statue-lent-to-italy-in-exchange-for-parthenon-gesture/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/the-acropolis-museum-is-travelling-to-palermo/
Latest Pasts Imperfect newsletter:
https://pastsimperfect.substack.com/p/pasts-imperfect-21022
-----
Roman Archaeology Blog:
http://romanarc.blogspot.com/
Rogueclassicism:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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A 5000 years bp chalk sculpture dubbed the 'Burton Agnes drum found in a child burial site in Yorkshire is being hailed as the most important prehistoric art found in the UK in the past century:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-prehistoric-ancient-british-museum.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/10/ancient-sculpture-is-most-important-prehistoric-art-find-in-uk-for-century
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-60341377
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/british-east-yorkshire-stonehenge-b2012724.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-british-museum-s-prehistoric-art-drum-role-wgdfhm39v
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/british-museum-british-east-yorkshire-stonehenge-allen-b981999.html
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-incredible-story-of-how-a-young-archaeologist-found-a-neolithic-grave-3564249
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/10/chalk-drum-discovered-childrens-grave-important-piece-prehistoric/
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/874/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/874/pub/874/page/34/article/271988
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220210-prehistoric-drum-is-top-ancient-find-british-museum
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/12/chalk-drum-stonehenge-british-museum/
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/drum-discovery-stone-age-archaeology-grave-scn-scli-intl/index.html
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63342
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/02/10/british-museum-prehistoric-art-discovery
A late Bronze Age cauldron find from Romania:
https://www.agerpres.ro/english/2022/02/08/cauldron-from-late-bronze-age-discovered-in-gura-vitioarei-prahova-county--861271
Glass beads from Caithness appear to be made from 'recycled' Roman glass:
https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/pictures-highly-significant-archaeological-find-as-tiny-200-265750/
Recent finds confirm medieval gold mining took place at a site in Slovakia:
https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22826254/latest-archaeological-finds-confirm-gold-mining-in-tuzina.html
A study rethinking the mortality rate of the Black Plague:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-black-death-mortality-widespread-believed.html
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/black-death-was-true-horror-but-not-everywhere-says-new-study-1.10604944
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread-as-long-thought/142750
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread-as-long-thought/
cf: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01652-4
Excavations have commenced at a possible medieval mound site in Newtown (Wales):
https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/19907214.excavation-begins-newtown-mound/
The 'Bastion of the Seven Winds' in the New Fortress on Corfu is undergoing restoration:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/07/the-bastion-of-the-seven-winds-is-being-restored/
The 8th century York Helmet is returning on loan to the Jorvik Viking Centre:
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/880/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/880/pub/880/page/40/article/272853
Opposition to development plans on the Oswestry Iron Age fort site:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-60300049
Finds from various periods from North Wales have been declared treasure:
https://the-past.com/news/north-wales-finds-spanning-the-bronze-age-to-post-medieval-period-declared-treasure/
Rumours (?) of a significant archaeological find at a Heybridge development site:
https://maldon.nub.news/n/residents-say-significant-archaeological-find-has-been-uncovered-on-heybridge-development-site-and-demand-answers
Interesitng questions arising from finds from various periods from the dig at the Grange Farm site in Kent:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/riverside-dig-site-reveals-stunning-ancient-mysteries-262304/
More on the find of a 13th century tiled floor from a friary site in Gloucester:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-60233563
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10323-220207-england-whitefriars-floor
Animal bones from medieval Novgorod suggests they were used for skating purposes:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-what-did-medieval-russians-do-for-fun-ice-skating-on-bones-1.10604320
More on the medieval cog shipwreck find off the coast of Sweden:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/medieval-ship-found-off-west-coast-of.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/medieval-ship-found-off-the-west-coast-of-sweden/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10322-220207-sweden-medieval-cog
More on Ice Age faunal remains from a site in Devon:
https://www.livescience.com/ice-age-animal-remains-found-in-devon-england
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/new-discovery-of-ice-age-fossils-in.html
Feature on the history and archaeology of medieval monasticism:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/the-history-and-archaeology-of-medieval-monasticism/
Feature on what archaeology reveals about children's lives in England some 1500 years bp:
https://theconversation.com/what-archaeology-can-tell-us-about-the-lives-of-children-in-england-1-500-years-ago-171896
Feature on the last queen of Cyprus:
https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/02/06/the-last-queen-of-cyprus-2/
Feature on Camlet Moat:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/camlet-moat-londons-camelot/142733
A British pub operating since 793 CE is closing because of the pandemic, alas:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/07/uk-ye-olde-fighting-cocks-st-albans-closing-covid/
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ye-olde-fighting-cocks-scli-intl-gbr/index.html
https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/02/08/english-pub-closing-after-more-than-1000-years/
Touristy plans for ancient caves in Nottingham:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-60333290
----------
Archaeology in Europe News:
http://archaeology-in-europe.blogspot.com/
Medievalists.net:
https://www.medievalists.net/category/news/
Viking Archaeology Blog:
http://viking-archaeology-blog.blogspot.com/
============================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
============================================================
20 more terracotta warriors have come to light:
https://www.livescience.com/terracotta-warriors-discovered-in-emperor-tomb
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/terracotta-warriors-found-china-1234618856/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10360-220211-china-pit-warriors
A 4000 years bp Zhukaigou culture site from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region:
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2022-02/12/content_78044251.htm
A possible new culture has been identified at a Paleolithic site in Tianjin:
https://ukranews.com/en/news/832159-chinese-archaeologists-discover-a-new-culture-in-tianjin
Another feature on the many finds in Beijing in 2021:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220213/098877edc9534390a6734da35a796042/c.html
15th century (?) finds from the Fort Feroza in Gulligagh:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673942/artefacts-found-during-gullibagh-excavation
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/931776-artefacts-discovered-during-excavation-in-mansehra
Excavation at a Ghazi Buddhist site was halted after a 'scuffle' of some sort:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673932/scuffle-halts-excavation-at-ghazi-buddhist-site
Assorted digs in Tamil Nadu were 'virtually' inaugurated this week:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/stalin-virtually-inaugurates-archaeological-excavations-in-multiple-locations/article38412802.ece
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/stalin-kicks-off-archaeological-excavations-at-7-sites-1080511.html
... and one of them was at the site of Gangaikonda Cholapuram:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/schools/tn-archaeology-dept-expects-to-excavate-palace-of-rajendra-chola-369263
Word that the Taliban governor of Bamiyan has been digging around the site looking for 'treasure':
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bamiyan-buddhas-taliban-treasure-2069359
More on studying 2800 years bp food remains from southern India:
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-archaeology-research-charred-food-lumps-window-past-civilizations
Cambodia is being urged to legislate more regarding 'archaeological crimes':
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501023516/crackdown-on-archaeological-crimes/
============================================================
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
============================================================
Documenting a couple centuries' worth of ghost towns and whaling stations in Fiordland:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/02/researchers-document-long-forgotten-ghost-towns-and-whaling-stations-in-fiordland.html
What we can learn from bones from Australian shipwrecks:
https://theconversation.com/how-centuries-old-bones-from-australias-historic-shipwrecks-can-help-us-solve-crimes-174963
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-centuries-old-bones-australia-historic-shipwrecks.html
cf: https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/shipwrecks
============================================================
NORTH AMERICA
============================================================
A dozen Revolutionary War era cannons were found in the Savannah River where three others were found last year:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/us/savannah-river-cannons-discovery/index.html
https://whdh.com/news/a-dozen-more-revolutionary-war-era-cannons-have-been-found-and-raised-from-the-savannah-river/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63335
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10330-220210-georgia-revolutionary-war
More on the dispute arising over the 'positive' identification of the wreck of the Endeavour:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/endeavour-calling-from-its-murky-waters-time-for-change-20220207-p59ueq.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/wreck-of-british-explorer-james-cooks.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-researchers-are-clashing-over-identification-of-captain-cooks-endeavour-180979526/
More on claims of a comet contributing to the demise of Hopewell Culture (skepticism remains):
https://the-past.com/news/near-earth-comet-explosion-may-have-triggered-end-of-native-american-hopewell-culture/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-debris-from-a-comet-airburst-devastate-an-early-native-american-culture-180979523/
More on that 350 years bp Spanish cross found in Maryland:
https://english.elpais.com/usa/2022-02-11/how-did-a-350-year-old-spanish-cross-get-to-the-us-state-of-maryland.html
A 19th century building in Greenwich was torched last week:
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2022/02/08/historic-wilmarth-building-reduced-to-rubble-in-greenwich
Feature on lost Black cemeteries ... with a focus on one recently found in Virginia:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/black-church-graveyards-repair-save-fund.html
Feature on five finds made in the past few years in the Yukon:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-fascinating-ice-age-finds-discovered-in-yukon-permafrost-180979521/
Feature on Underground Railroad sites in Michigan:
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/02/10/michigan-underground-railroad-sites/6718742001/
Another feature on the Clotilda:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220207-the-last-known-ship-of-the-us-slave-trade
Feature on a group of Black divers studying/searching for wrecks of slave ships:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/12/1080420160/into-the-depths-podcast-follows-black-divers-in-search-for-slave-trade-shipwreck
Another feature on Poverty Point:
https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2022/02/10/poverty-point-archaeologists-ancient-discoveries/6690261001/
Feature on Abraham Galloway:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/08/1077673414/abraham-galloway-civil-war-black-history
Feature on the US Supreme Court:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/opinion/supreme-court-alabama-maps.html
Review of Linda Hirshman, *The Color of Abolition*:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/07/wordle-crack-dickens-code-it-worker-california-shorthand-love-deciphering
============================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
============================================================
Colombia has started the process of recovering the wreck of the San Jose:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-colombia-eyes-tonnes-galleon-gold.html
A study of government and communication in 16th century Mesoamerica:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-complexities-millennia-mesoamerica.html
I think we mentioned Wari use of hallucinogens some 1200 years bp:
https://www.livescience.com/wari-hallucinogen-to-keep-followers-loyal
Tracking climate, demography, and diet change over 7000 years in the Central Andes:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/climate-drove-7000-years-of-dietary.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/climate-drove-7000-years-of-dietary-changes/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05774-y
More on Maya sacred cacao groves in the Yucatan:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-now-know-where-the-ancient-maya-planted-their-sacred-cacao-groves-180979535/
Feature on the restoration of some churches in Michoacan:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/t-magazine/painted-churches-michoacan-mexico.html
-----
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas Breaking News:
http://goo.gl/1VdeA
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas lecture channels on Youtube:
https://mikeruggerisyoutube.tumblr.com/
Ancient MesoAmerica News:
http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
============================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
============================================================
A researcher has used 'deep learning' to develop a Google specifically for archaeologists:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-google-archaeologists.html
Feature on using AI to translate Indus Valley script (maybe):
https://restofworld.org/2022/indus-translation-ai-code-script
Victor Nuovo's latest:
https://www.addisonindependent.com/2022/02/10/victor-nuovo-look-to-our-great-moral-teachers/
Feature on five inventors killed by their own inventions:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/five-inventors-killed-by-their-own-creations
Feature on the power of nuns in Baroque Spain (I think):
https://smoda.elpais.com/feminismo/devotas-y-diplomaticas-cuando-las-monjas-del-barroco-fueron-el-poder-en-la-sombra-de-los-palacios-reales/
How archaeology influence Agatha Christie's *Death on the Nile*:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-agatha-christies-love-of-archaeology-influenced-death-on-the-nile-180979544/
On Darwin's theories on the evolution of human expressions:
https://theconversation.com/150-years-ago-charles-darwin-wrote-about-how-expressions-evolved-pre-empting-modern-psychology-by-a-century-170880
Not sure where to put this one ... a Tunisian 'enthusiast' has recreated the purple dye made from snails:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02-08/tunisian-enthusiast-recreates-sea-snail-purple-dye-that-defined-ancient-royals
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-695850
Similarly not sure where to put this item on Azerbaijan planning to erase 'Armenian forgery' from its churches:
https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-announces-plans-to-erase-armenian-traces-from-churches
Feature on human fascination with portraits:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220204-why-portraits-have-fascinated-us-for-millennia
Research reveals that Marco Polo had a previously-unknown daughter:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/07/marco-polo-had-previously-unknown-daughter-prior-to-marriage-will-suggests
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63313
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/will-reveals-existence-of-agnese.html
Leonardo seems to have problems drawing a vulva:
https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-695885
Latest desecration of a painting appears to have been done by a bored Russian gallery security guard:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60330758
Feature on the search for a 'missing' Paolo Veronese painting:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-60290162
Feature on Jacques-Louis David:
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/jacques-louis-david-radical-draftsman/
Feature on one of the mysterious women painted by Whistler:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whistlers-woman-in-white-joanna-hiffernan-royal-academy-clkwmpfzh
Feature on the 'Vanitas' genre:
https://mymodernmet.com/vanitas-dutch-paintings/
Latest cheap painting might be a van Dyck:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/van-dyck-infanta-portrait-painting
Feature on Dickens' 'archaic shorthand' notes to himself:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/charles-dickens-secret-notes.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/07/wordle-crack-dickens-code-it-worker-california-shorthand-love-deciphering
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/decoding-charles-dickens-amateur-sleuths-helped-decipher-1859-letter/
Oxford had 'bought back' a 16th century Euclid translation it had given away in the 18th:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/11/oxford-university-buys-back-first-euclid-translation-300-years/
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/879/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/879/pub/879/page/55/article/272579
Something about the development of writing and 'collective computation':
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-uncorked-bottleneck.html
Suggestion that Isaac Newton was the smartest person in the world:
https://bigthink.com/the-past/smartest-person-world-isaac-newton/
Feature on one of Amelia Earhart's aviator helmet mysteries:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/nyregion/amelia-earhart-aviator-helmet.html
Feature on chimney sweeps:
https://aeon.co/videos/the-perilous-lives-of-the-climbing-boys-who-swept-chimneys-in-19th-century-london
Feature on the use of star maps to locate Shackleton's Endurance:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60352606
Feature on Syphilis:
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/syphilis-name/
A plan to revive aurochs in Europe:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/aurochs-rewilding
More on the centennial of Joyce's *Ulysses* ... coverage varies:
https://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/culture/books/955712/james-joyces-ulysses-turns-100
More on no offers for the Villa Aurora:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-06/la-princesa-texana-el-mural-de-caravaggio-y-las-maravillas-del-palacio-que-nadie-quiere-comprar.html
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-11/se-vende-coleccion-de-arte-con-caravaggio-a-condicion-de-no-moverlos.html
============================================================
CURRENT EVENTS:
============================================================
Plans to install a statue of Chief Tomochichi are raising concerns:
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-georgia-atlanta-native-americans-e3615afe670d9d6e64c4b0098e44fbf5
Reading Thucydides during a pandemic:
https://theamericanscholar.org/reading-thucydides-in-a-time-of-pandemic/
What Cupid can teach us about love and desire:
https://theconversation.com/what-the-mythical-cupid-can-teach-us-about-the-meaning-of-love-and-desire-176760
https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2022/february/joel-christensen-cupid.html
Feature on assorted Valentine's Day Traditions:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/655143/odd-old-timey-valentines-day-traditions
Some items on the history of Valentine's Day:
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/the-history-of-valentines-day-why-do-we-celebrate-it-and-who-was-st-valentine-3564355
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/02/11/history-valentines-day-saint-valentine/6708885001/
https://therecorddelta.com/article/the-surprisingly-dark-history-of-valentines-day
Review of a book about vintage Valentine's Day cards and the like:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/vintage-valentines.html
Feature on John Wesley Gilbert, the first Black archaeologist:
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/extraordinary-life-john-wesley-gilbert-first-black-archaeologist
Feature on Carter G. Woodson:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/02/celebrating-black-history-months-founder/
Pondering the origins of racism (in the wake of Whoopi Goldberg's comments):
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/opinion/whoopi-goldberg-race-history.html
... and the connection of racism to the slave trade:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/opinion/slave-trade-race-history.html
The Dutch Central Bank has acknowledged its slave trade connections:
https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-02-09/el-banco-central-holandes-reconoce-sus-lazos-con-la-esclavitud-durante-la-era-colonial.html
More on the Super Bowl and Roman numerals:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-2022-number-roman-numerals/aoszl3nvejlp7krnjlrususg
https://sports.nbcsports.com/2022/02/05/super-bowl-2022-roman-numerals-naming/
https://www.distractify.com/p/why-does-the-super-bowl-use-roman-numerals
============================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
============================================================
Ancient Greek Theatre:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177165/forthcoming-exhibition-on-ancient-theater-at-the-museum-of-cycladic-art/
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/02/10/athens-museum-of-cycladic-art-hosts-ancient-theatre-exhibition/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/cycladic-museums-next-exhibition-will-be-about-the-ancient-greek-theater/
Stonehenge:
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-world-of-stonehenge/
https://www.scotsman.com/news/national/ancient-orkney-artefacts-show-how-happening-islands-influenced-stonehenge-3564541
https://www.edp24.co.uk/lifestyle/heritage/seahenge-in-exhibition-at-british-museum-in-london-8674748
Evil Eye:
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/artifacts-protecting-against-evil-eye-host-visitors-in-izmir/news
Karl Marx:
https://www.dw.com/en/karl-marx-five-reasons-why-the-thinker-was-ahead-of-his-time/a-60716738
Holbein:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/arts/design/holbein-morgan-portraits-renaissance.html
In Pursuit of Venus:
https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-02-09/venus
The Grand Egyptian Museum is boasting having 4700 Tut artifacts:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112759/4-700-relics-of-Tutankhamun-successfully-exhibited-in-Grand-Egyptian
... and a general update on progress:
https://dailynewsegypt.com/2022/02/10/gem-received-and-restored-56000-artefacts-so-far-tourism-ministry/
The Troy Museum is adding an online component:
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/turkeys-troy-museum-to-be-introduced-in-digital-environment/news
The Met is renovating its Ancient Near East and Cypriot galleries:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/arts/design/met-galleries-renovations.html
============================================================
AUCTIONS AND SALES RELATED
============================================================
Big bucks for a 'forgotten' Strigel work:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/e2-8-million-for-a-forgotten-painting-of-1520/
============================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
============================================================
DNA suggests a large scale Bronze Age migration to Orkney, which replaced much of the local population:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-bronze-age-women-genetic-landscape.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220207155634.htm
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942423
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10485783/Archaeology-Orkney-saw-mass-migration-Europe-rest-UK-4-500-years-ago.html
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic-landscape-of-orkney/142705
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic-landscape-of-orkney/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10328-220209-orkney-bronze-age
cf: https://www.pnas.org/content/119/8/e2108001119
Reviewish of Jennifer Raff, *Origins: A Genetic History of the Americas*:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/review/origin-genetic-history-americas-jennifer-raff.html
... and a piece by Raff herself:
https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/
============================================================
THE TECHY SIDE
============================================================
Feature on some child mummy scans at the British Museum:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63304
Feature on using the Google Ngram Viewer:
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/the-digital-tool-that-helps-robert-shiller-understand-the-past
Latest facial reconstructions of assorted historical figures:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/arist-ai-historical-figures
============================================================
CLIMATE MATTERS
============================================================
A number of coastal sites in Africa are threatened by climate change:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2307915-over-190-african-heritage-sites-threatened-by-rising-seas-this-century/
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/heritage-sites-in-africa-threatened-by-climate-change/142745
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/african-heritage-sites-threatened-by.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/african-heritage-sites-threatened-by-coastal-flooding-and-erosion/
Climate change concerns for Hadrian's Wall:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-climate-threatens-hadrian-wall-treasures.html
https://www.rfi.fr/en/climate-change-threatens-hadrian-s-wall-treasures-in-england
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20220208-hadrian-s-wall-climate-change-threatens-ancient-roman-structure
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/how-climate-change-is-washing-away.html
============================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
============================================================
Naples:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/in-naples-whats-2000-years-old-is-new-again
Medieval European castles:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/frederic-chaubin-stone-age-castles/index.html
Hillforts in Britain:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/feb/10/uk-ancient-forts-stanwick-st-john-north-yorkshire-five-hill-forts
Sardinia:
https://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/regions/sardinia/2022/02/10/archaeology-sardinia-island-of-megaliths-in-thessaloniki_84e9a625-8d13-4892-a477-f292b8fb6487.html
============================================================
PERFORMANCES AND MUSIC RELATED
============================================================
Pondering Scott Joplin's 'The Entertainer':
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/02/07/1078314203/reconsidering-scott-joplins-the-entertainer
Criticizing Hollywood's 'lost treasure' movies:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/11/booty-calls-hollywoods-problem-with-lost-treasure-yarns
============================================================
CRIME BEAT
============================================================
Vague item on vandalism at a site in Shahhat (Libya):
https://en.libyan-cna.net/tourism-and-archaeology/act-of-sabotage-in-an-archaeological-site-in-shahhat/
Thousands of antiquities (lots of coins) recovered in a pre-dawn raid in the Nablus area:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-695963
https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-antiquities-looter-arrested-in-west-bank-with-thousands-of-coins/
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2022/02/israel-arrests-an-antiquities-thief-and-recovers-thousands-of-precious-relics/
A major antiquities smuggling case revolving around a prominent Egyptian businessman has resumed:
https://www.foreignbrief.com/daily-news/egypt-antiquities-trafficking-case-resumes-proceedings/
----------
conflict antiquities:
http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/
anonymous swiss collector:
http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/
Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:
http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/
Looting Matters:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/
Illicit Cultural Property:
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/
SAFE:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/
============================================================
REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY
============================================================
A Belgian museum returned some Nazi-looted art to heirs:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/10/justice-can-triumph-painting-looted-by-nazis-returned-to-owners-after-80-years
https://www.dw.com/en/belgian-museum-returns-nazi-looted-painting-to-jewish-family/a-60735664
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/belgium-museum-nazi-looted/index.html
The US returned an ancient helmet to Bulgaria:
https://bg.usembassy.gov/us-embassy-announces-the-return-of-an-ancient-helmet-along-with-a-new-program-to-protect-bulgarian-antiquities-02-11-2022/
The Boston MFA returned a couple of pieces to Mali:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/02/08/mfa-returns-looted-objects-to-mali
The US returned items to Chile that were on the auction block in Philadelphia:
https://www.latercera.com/nacional/noticia/estados-unidos-devuelve-objetos-historicos-del-norte-de-chile-que-iban-a-ser-subastados-en-filadelfia/L4XELZCNSVFLLAUWTOB4M5RGC4/
Hawaii is receiving ancestral remains from assorted European museums:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/arts/design/hawaii-remains-europe.html
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/02/11/germany-returns-ancestral-human-remains-in-berlin-museum-collection-to-hawaii
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/sacred-remains-ancestors-return-home/
A stolen Buddha that turned up in Italy will be returned:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/arts/design/stolen-buddha-statue-india.html
More on a Lebanon museum returning 300+ items to Iraq:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2019366/middle-east
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-to-iraq/2022/02/06/fc681cfc-8752-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-16835581.php
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-eras-iraq-82706461
https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20220207-lebanese-museum-returns-millennia-old-antiquities-to-iraq
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220207-lebanese-museum-returns-millennia-old-antiquities-to-iraq
https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/02/07/hundreds-of-artifacts-of-different-eras-returned-to-iraq-from-lebanon/
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iraq/2022/02/08/iraqs-heritage-faces-organised-sabotage-as-returned-antiquities-go-on-display/
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-to-iraq-171341
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10329-220210-iraq-artifacts-repatriated
Feature on Nazi-looted art:
https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/2022/02/08/nazi-looted-art-is-under-the-spotlight-thanks-to-musee-du-louvre-and-sothebys/
============================================================
NUMISMATICA
============================================================
Feature on coins of Roman emperors who had very brief rules:
https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/short-timers-on-ancient-coins-the-briefest-reigns-of-roman-emperors/
Latest e-Sylum:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n06.html
... and the one which should appear later today:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n07.html
------------------------
Coin Week:
http://www.coinweek.com/
============================================================
OBITUARIES
============================================================
Neil Faulkner:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/07/neil-faulkner-archaeologist-historian-revolutionary-socialist/
https://www.archaeologyworldwide.com/post/neil-faulkner-obituary
Martha Sharp Joukowsky:
https://www.brown.edu/academics/archaeology/news/msj
Hamid Khatib-Shahidi:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/470066/Prominent-Iranian-archaeologist-Hamid-Khatib-Shahidi-dies-at
Norma Waterson:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/arts/music/norma-waterson-dead.html
John Rice Irwin:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/john-rice-irwin-dead.html
============================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
============================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:
https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/3135-audio-news-from-archaeologica-january-30th-through-february-5th-2022
============================================================
GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS
============================================================
Archaeology Magazine News Page:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/
About.com Archaeology:
http://archaeology.about.com/
Archaeology Briefs:
http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
Atlas Obscura:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/
Heritage Daily:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/
Sapiens Archaeology:
https://www.sapiens.org/category/archaeology/
Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:
http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
============================================================
PODCASTS/VODCASTS
============================================================
Archaeosoup:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch
Archaeology Podcast Network:
http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/
============================================================
EXPLORATOR is a free weekly newsletter bringing you the latest
news of archaeological finds, historical research and the like.
Various on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of
the 'ancient world' (broadly construed: practically anything relating
to archaeology or history up to a century or so ago is fair
game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of
charge!
============================================================
Useful Addresses
============================================================
You can read Explorator online at:
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===========================================================
Explorator is Copyright (c) 2022 David Meadows. Feel free to
distribute these listings via email to your pals, students,
teachers, etc., but please include this copyright notice. These
links are not to be posted to any website by any means (whether
by direct posting or snagging from a usenet group or some other
email source) without my express written permission. I think it
is only right that I be made aware of public fora which are
making use of content gathered in Explorator. Thanks!
===========================================================
explorator 24.43 February 13, 2022
===========================================================
You can read explorator online at:
https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,
Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley,
Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Nadia Durrani,
Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week
(as always hoping I have left no one out).
============================================================
EARLY HOMINIDS
============================================================
Alternating Neanderthal and sapiens remains in a French cave are suggesting sapiens was in that part of Europe about 10 000 years earlier than previously thought:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-french-cave-story-neanderthals-early.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-homo-sapiens-europe-earlier-thought.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/09/neanderthal-pompeii-dig-places-humans-in-europe-earlier-than-thought
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60305218
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/science-and-technology/stone-age-western-europe-history-b2011423.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10494933/Archaeology-Fossilised-modern-human-childs-molar-54-000-YEARS-ago-French-cave.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/science/neanderthals-cave-france.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-cave-tells-new-story-about-neanderthals-early-humans/2022/02/09/f41fe7ac-89da-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://apnews.com/article/science-europe-france-caves-fossils-642207a40773a229ea65925574eede2b
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/french-cave-tells-story-neanderthals-early-humans-82777617
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220209-study-places-homo-sapiens-in-europe-earlier-than-thought
https://www.timesofisrael.com/homo-sapiens-and-neanderthals-alternately-lived-in-the-same-cave-study-says/
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-696092
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-sapiens-humans-europe-migration-earlier-france-rock-shelter
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/modern-humans-tried-but-failed-to-colonize-europe-54-000-years-ago-1.10601917
https://www.science.org/content/article/did-neanderthals-and-modern-humans-take-turns-living-french-cave
https://www.zmescience.com/science/modern-humans-lived-neanderthal-territory-10022022/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00389-9
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/scientists-discover-earliest-known.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/discovery-of-a-baby-tooth-places-humans-in-western-europe-10000-years-earlier-than-previously-thought-180979556/
https://the-past.com/news/neanderthals-and-modern-humans-alternately-occupied-a-rock-shelter-in-southern-france/
cf: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj9496
Neanderthal tools from a cave site in Croatia:
https://www.croatiaweek.com/big-discovery-in-croatia-neanderthal-tools-found-in-upper-barac-cave/
More on Neanderthals building fires in Lazaret cave 150 000 years bp:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/08/1078898515/cave-campfire-neanderthal
https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/early-humans-cave-fires/
https://www.latercera.com/que-pasa/noticia/los-primeros-humanos-ya-sabian-como-construir-y-utilizar-el-espacio-de-manera-optima/7NW3OTFTIBGZNMWP5H63MGIAWI/
More on a 1.5 million years bp vertebra from the Jordan Valley and its implications for 'Out of Africa':
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-human-vertebra-found-israel
https://bigthink.com/the-past/out-of-africa-events/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/1-5-million-year-old-vertebra-hints-at-a-story-of-early-human-migration/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10327-220208-israel-migration-evolution
More on the question of whether cooking skills/eating meat 'made us human':
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-02-07/did-eating-meat-really-make-us-human.html
https://elpais.com/ciencia/2022-02-05/comer-carne-nos-hizo-humanos.html
More on human settlement on the Arabian peninsula being less influenced by climate than previously thought:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-696323
============================================================
AFRICA
============================================================
Feature on the Benin bronzes:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-60326279
============================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
============================================================
A 6th century BCE 'cachette' of materials used in the mummification process from Abusir:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/50/1207/460759/AlAhram-Weekly/Heritage/Embalming-cachette-found.aspx
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112754/Discovery-of-a-cache-of-embalming-materials-in-Egypt%E2%80%99s-Abu
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63328
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-egyptian-embalming-cache/142739
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-largest-embalming-cache-ever-found.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/the-largest-embalming-cache-ever-found-in-egypt-unearthed-at-abusir/
20 well-preserved 2000 years bp mummies from a necropolis in West Aswan:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/20-ancient-mummies-discovered-aswan-tomb
Remains of a Roman-era necropolis from the Gaza strip (much looted):
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/ancient-burial-place-uncovered-gaza-construction-site
More on the 18 000 potsherds/ostraka from Athribis:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112679/Largest-collection-of-ancient-Egyptian-%E2%80%98notebooks%E2%80%99-discovered
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-egypt-athribis-ostraca/index.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-egypt-talking-in-class-thats-a-hundred-lines-cleopatra-j7pvwd37l
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/ancient-notepads-greek-egypt/
https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-egyptian-children-did-lines-punishment-bart-simpson-athribis-tell-atrib-1676859
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/huge-discovery-of-egyptian-texts-gives-glimpses-into-ancient-life/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-18000-ancient-egyptian-ostraca-180979543/
How Egypt regulates foreign archaeological missions:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/112815/Look-into-law-How-Egypt-regulates-foreign-archaeological-excavation-missions
Feature on the coffin and mummy of Pa-ankh-en-Amun (in the US):
https://www.artic.edu/interactive-features/coffin-and-mummy-of-pa-ankh-en-amun
Feature on how Nefertiti's bust ended up in Germany:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-enigmatic-nefertiti-came-to-be-locked-away-in-germany
Archaeologists have commenced work at Iran's historical port of Najirom:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/469980/Archaeological-survey-begins-on-Persian-Gulf-s-historical-port
A 15th/16th century 'rock-carved' inscription and some stairs from a site in Iran's Marvdasht plain:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/469922/Rock-carved-inscription-stairs-discovered-in-southern-Iranian
Studying an 'orphaned' collection of artifacts from Irans Ganj Dareh site excavated in th 60s and 70s:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeological-archives-rediscover-iran-treasure.html
cf: https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeological-archives-rediscover-iran-treasure.html
Feature on the fall of the Hittites:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/the-fall-of-the-hittites/142712
Feature on who the 'Sumerians' were:
https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2022/02/were-there-sumerians
Feature on fortifications in the Ancient Near East;
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/biblical-archaeology-topics/biblical-archaeology-basics/bar-jr-five-ways-to-defend-an-ancient-city/
Feature on the tomb of Queen Pu-abi and the textiles found there:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ur-queen-puabi-mesopotamia-textiles
A study of pair of Byzantine-era swords found in the 20+ years ago in Amorium (Turkey):
https://www.livescience.com/rare-byzantine-swords-discovered
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10324-220207-turkey-byzantine-swords
A nice photoessay on sites in Jordan:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/travel/jordan-petra-road-trip.html
Analysis of some 3500 years bp lead ingots from Caesarea is pointing to trade relations between Sardinia and Cyprus in the Bronze Age:
https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/hj06bvmjc
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220211/a6a3e59acc6243a6ab65256b6ee9353d/c.html
Latest claim that the Vatican has items taken from the Temple:
https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/article-696068
Evidence of a 3600 years bp settlement site in Qatar:
https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2022/01/evidence-of-3600-year-old-settlement-uncovered-in-eastern-arabian-peninsula/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10326-220208-qatar-desert-settlement
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/09/evidence-of-3600-year-old-settlement-found-in-eastern-arabian-peninsula/
Syria and the UAE have signed an MOU relating to archiving of Syrian artifacts:
https://sana.sy/en/?p=262968
Archaeologist's have confirmed that Al Sayah Island was man-made at least 1200 years bp:
https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/78694.html
Feature on the Fourth Crusade:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-07/uno-de-los-episodios-mas-insolitos-de-la-edad-media-la-cruzada-que-se-desvio-para-tomar-a-sangre-y-fuego-la-mayor-ciudad-cristiana.html
-----
This Week in the Ancient Near East Podcast:
https://thisweekintheancientneareast.podbean.com/
============================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
============================================================
Overviewish report on this year's digs at the Mycenean site of Kastelli in Chania:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/preliminary-results-of-the-excavation-on-the-hill-of-kastelli-in-chania/
... and similar treatment for this year's work at the long-inhabitied site of Vlochos:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/09/travels-to-the-ancient-city-at-vlochos-palamas/
Remains of a Republic-era Roman bridge on the via Tiburtina (Italia):
https://www.archeomedia.net/roma-scoperto-un-ponte-romano-di-eta-repubblicana-sulla-via-tiburtina/
Storms revealed a stone altar at the Vindolanda site:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/vindolanda-first-find-2022-altar-22984628
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63322
This week, coverage of the Roman finds at Aylesbury focus more on other things found in the town (more on the beheaded burials below):
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-archaeologists-small-roman-town-excavated.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/small-roman-town-excavated-near.html
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10325-220208-england-roman-town
Brief item on the accidental find of a 2nd century CE site in Tripoli:
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/inbrief/archaeological-site-dating-back-2nd-century-ad-discovered-tripoli
A 1st/2nd century Roman necropolis from San Severino (all coverage in Italian so far):
https://storiearcheostorie.com/2022/02/08/scoperte-a-san-severino-marche-mc-torna-alla-luce-una-necropoli-romana/
https://www.corriereadriatico.it/macerata/san_severino_ultime_notizie_archeologia_soprintendenza_complesso_funerario_romano-6491245.html
I think we mentioned this Roman mosaic find from Hvar:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63355
Plenty of attention for the identification of a 1500 years bp Roman chamber pot (from residue of course):
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-portable-toilets-ancient-roman-world.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211080609.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211080609.htm
https://news.ubc.ca/2022/02/11/identifying-the-portable-toilets-of-the-ancient-roman-world/
https://www.livescience.com/roman-empire-port-o-potty
https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-696224
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/science/archaeology-rome-toilet.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10499489/Archaeology-Roman-PORTALOO-contains-crusty-material-1-500-year-old-intestinal-parasites.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/11/roman-women-used-private-bathrooms-instead-sharing-men/
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/874/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/874/pub/874/page/35/article/271977
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/this-ancient-roman-ceramic-pot-was-probably-a-portable-toilet-study-finds/
https://www.sciencealert.com/conical-storage-pots-found-near-roman-latrines-held-just-what-you-d-think
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/new-research-identifies-roman-jars-used-as-chamber-pots/142742
cf: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X22000128
Study confirms use of gypsum in Greek white ground vases:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/archaeometric-study-confirms-ancient.html
Some damage caused at Bar Hill Fort by illegal metal detecting:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/roman-fort-damaged-by-suspected-illegal-metal-detecting-41338362.html
https://www.forres-gazette.co.uk/news/national/roman-fort-damaged-by-suspected-illegal-metal-detecting-40778/
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/roman-fort-damaged-suspected-illegal-163303403.html
Concerns that a monument planned at Colchester will harm part of the Roman circus site:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-60310669
Invasive plants apparently are threatening some of Rome's monuments:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/invasive-plants-are-threatening-romes-ancient-monuments
The Roman theatre at Sabratha was officially inaugurated after renovation work:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/europe/20220210/300e6c844e3b49be9da684e93143548f/c.html
Nice followup to that 'Christian' ring found in the waters off Caesarea:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-an-ancient-ring-found-in-a-shipwreck-depict-jesus-christ
A study of the Dama de Elche cautions against moving it:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-10/el-analisis-de-la-dama-de-elche-desaconseja-su-traslado-porque-generaria-danos-en-la-roca.html
More on the burials (many decapitated) from a 2000 years bp necropolis near Aylesbury:
https://www.livescience.com/decapitated-roman-skeletons-uncovered-in-england
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/19903206.skeletons-murder-victims-hs2-finds-near-aylesbury/
https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/19905241.cotswold-archaeologists-discover-roman-bodies-hs2-work/
http://egypttoday.com/Article/4/112601/Horrific-discovery-of-dozens-of-headless-skeletons-in-Britain
https://www.sciencealert.com/archeologists-find-40-beheaded-roman-skeletons-with-skulls-between-their-legs
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dozens-of-decapitated-skeletons-found-at-roman-cemetery-in-england-180979533/
More on the Chalcidian helmets found at Velia:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unearthed-ancient-greek-helmets-tell-of-a-naval-battle-2500-years-ago-180979510/
Barbara Graziosi on the myth of Homer:
https://fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/homer-and-the-perils-of-bad-lecturing/article_5d2afe12-c655-52e0-a23e-23cd96a2e8fd.html
Feature/interview with Edith Hall:
https://www.palatinate.org.uk/edith-hall-if-you-cant-be-a-proper-moral-agent-then-youre-never-going-to-be-truly-happy/
Reviewish piece on John W.I. Lee's biography of John Wesley Gilbert:
https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2022/020542/scholar-ages
Putting Classics in a Black History Month context:
https://www.oakpark.com/2022/02/09/between-virgil-and-dr-carter-g-woodson/
Pondering the 'captain of the Blacks' fresco from Knossos:
https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/captain-blacks-fresco/
Augustus apparently 'cemented over' the site of Caesar's assassination:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-02/augusto-intento-borrar-bajo-el-hormigon-el-lugar-donde-fue-asesinado-julio-cesar.html
Feature on the recently-auctioned Hamilton Aphrodite:
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/art-and-antiques/in-focus-the-hamilton-aphrodite-the-finest-ancient-sculpture-ever-to-have-resided-in-scotland-and-how-it-smashed-its-3-million-estimate-238587
Latest Antikythera mechanism piece suggests (on what basis?) it was designed by Archimedes:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/antikythera-mechanism-archimedes/
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/tourism-businesses/thematic-tourism/46428-experts-antikythera-mechanism-designed-by-ancient-greek-genius-archimedes.html
Feature on the Scythians:
https://www.livescience.com/who-were-the-scythians
Feature on seven inventions credited to the Romans:
https://www.livescience.com/roman-inventions
Feature on Antinous in Victorian times:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/655299/antinous-gay-code-word-victorian-era
Feature on Troy:
https://www.livescience.com/38191-ancient-troy.html
Feature on ancient Greek art:
https://www.artic.edu/highlights/46/ancient-greek-art
Feature on lessons from Thucydides:
https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/p/ancient-advice-for-modern-foreign
Feature on the Little Theatre of Epidaurus:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177098/resurrecting-the-ancient-little-theater-of-epidaurus/
Feature on pankration:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/02/09/pankration-greek-olympics-ufc-mma/
Feature on the ancient Roman diet:
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/what-did-ancient-romans-eat.html
Feature on ancient paganism and modern religion:
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/ancient-paganism-and-modern-religion/
Feature on manual labour and Musonius Rufus:
https://psyche.co/ideas/for-the-stoic-musonius-rufus-manual-work-is-philosophy-too
Feature on the site and finds from Dion (Macedonia):
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/07/ancient-dion-macedonia-greece/
Feature on the Furies:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/11/furies-ancient-greek-mythology/
Feature on ancient Greek 'special forces':
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/05/special-forces-ancient-greece/
Feature on ancient Greek timekeeping:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/ancient-greeks-measured-time/
Feature on the curse of the House of Atreus:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/curse-house-atreus-greek-mythology/
Feature on the Lion of Kea:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/07/lion-kea-ancient-greece/
How Zeno's paradox was resolved:
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/zenos-paradox/
Pondering ancient ideas of free speech:
https://bigthink.com/the-past/free-speech-mchangama/
In Parthenon Sculptures news this week, the Greek press liked Charlotte Higgins' Guardian piece last week:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/02/06/the-parthenon-marbles-belong-in-greece-the-guardian-says/
https://www.thenationalherald.com/the-guardian-too-says-stolen-parthenon-marbles-belong-in-greece/
... and there were suggestions that returning them would be a 'lovely Jubilee gesture':
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/08/parthenon-marbles-return-would-be-a-lovely-jubilee-gesture
... and that Boris Johnson should arrange the return in his 'final days':
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-british-museum-parthenon-marbles-parkinson-prime-minister-b981475.html
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/19909027.boris-johnson-in-final-days-arrange-return-parthenon-marbles/
... and plenty of coverage of Greece lending a statue of Athena to the Palermo museum that lent Greece the fragment they had:
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2022/02/10/athena-in-palermo-as-parthenon-frieze-returned-to-athens_ffa06cf8-2168-4104-a540-08d9c26523cb.html
https://apnews.com/article/travel-europe-greece-palermo-athens-bc982bde3ea92c8016c51273ceaa6729
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/greek-statue-lent-to-italy-in-exchange-for-parthenon-gesture/2022/02/09/12212886-89c9-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/greek-statue-lent-italy-exchange-parthenon-gesture-82774418
https://greekreporter.com/2022/02/09/greece-loans-statue-italy/
https://neoskosmos.com/en/2022/02/11/news/greece/statue-of-athena-from-acropolis-museum-to-be-exhibited-in-palermo-for-the-next-four-years/
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177193/acropolis-museum-statue-lent-to-italy-in-exchange-for-parthenon-gesture/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/the-acropolis-museum-is-travelling-to-palermo/
Latest Pasts Imperfect newsletter:
https://pastsimperfect.substack.com/p/pasts-imperfect-21022
-----
Roman Archaeology Blog:
http://romanarc.blogspot.com/
Rogueclassicism:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
============================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
============================================================
A 5000 years bp chalk sculpture dubbed the 'Burton Agnes drum found in a child burial site in Yorkshire is being hailed as the most important prehistoric art found in the UK in the past century:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-prehistoric-ancient-british-museum.html
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/10/ancient-sculpture-is-most-important-prehistoric-art-find-in-uk-for-century
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-60341377
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/british-east-yorkshire-stonehenge-b2012724.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-british-museum-s-prehistoric-art-drum-role-wgdfhm39v
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/british-museum-british-east-yorkshire-stonehenge-allen-b981999.html
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-incredible-story-of-how-a-young-archaeologist-found-a-neolithic-grave-3564249
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/10/chalk-drum-discovered-childrens-grave-important-piece-prehistoric/
http://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/874/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/874/pub/874/page/34/article/271988
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220210-prehistoric-drum-is-top-ancient-find-british-museum
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/12/chalk-drum-stonehenge-british-museum/
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/drum-discovery-stone-age-archaeology-grave-scn-scli-intl/index.html
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63342
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/02/10/british-museum-prehistoric-art-discovery
A late Bronze Age cauldron find from Romania:
https://www.agerpres.ro/english/2022/02/08/cauldron-from-late-bronze-age-discovered-in-gura-vitioarei-prahova-county--861271
Glass beads from Caithness appear to be made from 'recycled' Roman glass:
https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/pictures-highly-significant-archaeological-find-as-tiny-200-265750/
Recent finds confirm medieval gold mining took place at a site in Slovakia:
https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22826254/latest-archaeological-finds-confirm-gold-mining-in-tuzina.html
A study rethinking the mortality rate of the Black Plague:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-black-death-mortality-widespread-believed.html
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/black-death-was-true-horror-but-not-everywhere-says-new-study-1.10604944
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread-as-long-thought/142750
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/black-death-mortality-not-as-widespread-as-long-thought/
cf: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01652-4
Excavations have commenced at a possible medieval mound site in Newtown (Wales):
https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/19907214.excavation-begins-newtown-mound/
The 'Bastion of the Seven Winds' in the New Fortress on Corfu is undergoing restoration:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/07/the-bastion-of-the-seven-winds-is-being-restored/
The 8th century York Helmet is returning on loan to the Jorvik Viking Centre:
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/880/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/880/pub/880/page/40/article/272853
Opposition to development plans on the Oswestry Iron Age fort site:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-60300049
Finds from various periods from North Wales have been declared treasure:
https://the-past.com/news/north-wales-finds-spanning-the-bronze-age-to-post-medieval-period-declared-treasure/
Rumours (?) of a significant archaeological find at a Heybridge development site:
https://maldon.nub.news/n/residents-say-significant-archaeological-find-has-been-uncovered-on-heybridge-development-site-and-demand-answers
Interesitng questions arising from finds from various periods from the dig at the Grange Farm site in Kent:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/riverside-dig-site-reveals-stunning-ancient-mysteries-262304/
More on the find of a 13th century tiled floor from a friary site in Gloucester:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-60233563
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10323-220207-england-whitefriars-floor
Animal bones from medieval Novgorod suggests they were used for skating purposes:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-what-did-medieval-russians-do-for-fun-ice-skating-on-bones-1.10604320
More on the medieval cog shipwreck find off the coast of Sweden:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/medieval-ship-found-off-west-coast-of.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/medieval-ship-found-off-the-west-coast-of-sweden/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10322-220207-sweden-medieval-cog
More on Ice Age faunal remains from a site in Devon:
https://www.livescience.com/ice-age-animal-remains-found-in-devon-england
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/new-discovery-of-ice-age-fossils-in.html
Feature on the history and archaeology of medieval monasticism:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/the-history-and-archaeology-of-medieval-monasticism/
Feature on what archaeology reveals about children's lives in England some 1500 years bp:
https://theconversation.com/what-archaeology-can-tell-us-about-the-lives-of-children-in-england-1-500-years-ago-171896
Feature on the last queen of Cyprus:
https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/02/06/the-last-queen-of-cyprus-2/
Feature on Camlet Moat:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/camlet-moat-londons-camelot/142733
A British pub operating since 793 CE is closing because of the pandemic, alas:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/07/uk-ye-olde-fighting-cocks-st-albans-closing-covid/
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ye-olde-fighting-cocks-scli-intl-gbr/index.html
https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/02/08/english-pub-closing-after-more-than-1000-years/
Touristy plans for ancient caves in Nottingham:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-60333290
----------
Archaeology in Europe News:
http://archaeology-in-europe.blogspot.com/
Medievalists.net:
https://www.medievalists.net/category/news/
Viking Archaeology Blog:
http://viking-archaeology-blog.blogspot.com/
============================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
============================================================
20 more terracotta warriors have come to light:
https://www.livescience.com/terracotta-warriors-discovered-in-emperor-tomb
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/terracotta-warriors-found-china-1234618856/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10360-220211-china-pit-warriors
A 4000 years bp Zhukaigou culture site from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region:
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2022-02/12/content_78044251.htm
A possible new culture has been identified at a Paleolithic site in Tianjin:
https://ukranews.com/en/news/832159-chinese-archaeologists-discover-a-new-culture-in-tianjin
Another feature on the many finds in Beijing in 2021:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/20220213/098877edc9534390a6734da35a796042/c.html
15th century (?) finds from the Fort Feroza in Gulligagh:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673942/artefacts-found-during-gullibagh-excavation
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/931776-artefacts-discovered-during-excavation-in-mansehra
Excavation at a Ghazi Buddhist site was halted after a 'scuffle' of some sort:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673932/scuffle-halts-excavation-at-ghazi-buddhist-site
Assorted digs in Tamil Nadu were 'virtually' inaugurated this week:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/stalin-virtually-inaugurates-archaeological-excavations-in-multiple-locations/article38412802.ece
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/stalin-kicks-off-archaeological-excavations-at-7-sites-1080511.html
... and one of them was at the site of Gangaikonda Cholapuram:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/schools/tn-archaeology-dept-expects-to-excavate-palace-of-rajendra-chola-369263
Word that the Taliban governor of Bamiyan has been digging around the site looking for 'treasure':
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bamiyan-buddhas-taliban-treasure-2069359
More on studying 2800 years bp food remains from southern India:
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-archaeology-research-charred-food-lumps-window-past-civilizations
Cambodia is being urged to legislate more regarding 'archaeological crimes':
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501023516/crackdown-on-archaeological-crimes/
============================================================
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
============================================================
Documenting a couple centuries' worth of ghost towns and whaling stations in Fiordland:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/02/researchers-document-long-forgotten-ghost-towns-and-whaling-stations-in-fiordland.html
What we can learn from bones from Australian shipwrecks:
https://theconversation.com/how-centuries-old-bones-from-australias-historic-shipwrecks-can-help-us-solve-crimes-174963
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-centuries-old-bones-australia-historic-shipwrecks.html
cf: https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/shipwrecks
============================================================
NORTH AMERICA
============================================================
A dozen Revolutionary War era cannons were found in the Savannah River where three others were found last year:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/us/savannah-river-cannons-discovery/index.html
https://whdh.com/news/a-dozen-more-revolutionary-war-era-cannons-have-been-found-and-raised-from-the-savannah-river/
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63335
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10330-220210-georgia-revolutionary-war
More on the dispute arising over the 'positive' identification of the wreck of the Endeavour:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/endeavour-calling-from-its-murky-waters-time-for-change-20220207-p59ueq.html
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/wreck-of-british-explorer-james-cooks.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-researchers-are-clashing-over-identification-of-captain-cooks-endeavour-180979526/
More on claims of a comet contributing to the demise of Hopewell Culture (skepticism remains):
https://the-past.com/news/near-earth-comet-explosion-may-have-triggered-end-of-native-american-hopewell-culture/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-debris-from-a-comet-airburst-devastate-an-early-native-american-culture-180979523/
More on that 350 years bp Spanish cross found in Maryland:
https://english.elpais.com/usa/2022-02-11/how-did-a-350-year-old-spanish-cross-get-to-the-us-state-of-maryland.html
A 19th century building in Greenwich was torched last week:
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2022/02/08/historic-wilmarth-building-reduced-to-rubble-in-greenwich
Feature on lost Black cemeteries ... with a focus on one recently found in Virginia:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/black-church-graveyards-repair-save-fund.html
Feature on five finds made in the past few years in the Yukon:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-fascinating-ice-age-finds-discovered-in-yukon-permafrost-180979521/
Feature on Underground Railroad sites in Michigan:
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/02/10/michigan-underground-railroad-sites/6718742001/
Another feature on the Clotilda:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220207-the-last-known-ship-of-the-us-slave-trade
Feature on a group of Black divers studying/searching for wrecks of slave ships:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/12/1080420160/into-the-depths-podcast-follows-black-divers-in-search-for-slave-trade-shipwreck
Another feature on Poverty Point:
https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2022/02/10/poverty-point-archaeologists-ancient-discoveries/6690261001/
Feature on Abraham Galloway:
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/08/1077673414/abraham-galloway-civil-war-black-history
Feature on the US Supreme Court:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/opinion/supreme-court-alabama-maps.html
Review of Linda Hirshman, *The Color of Abolition*:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/07/wordle-crack-dickens-code-it-worker-california-shorthand-love-deciphering
============================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
============================================================
Colombia has started the process of recovering the wreck of the San Jose:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-colombia-eyes-tonnes-galleon-gold.html
A study of government and communication in 16th century Mesoamerica:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-complexities-millennia-mesoamerica.html
I think we mentioned Wari use of hallucinogens some 1200 years bp:
https://www.livescience.com/wari-hallucinogen-to-keep-followers-loyal
Tracking climate, demography, and diet change over 7000 years in the Central Andes:
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/climate-drove-7000-years-of-dietary.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/10/climate-drove-7000-years-of-dietary-changes/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05774-y
More on Maya sacred cacao groves in the Yucatan:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-now-know-where-the-ancient-maya-planted-their-sacred-cacao-groves-180979535/
Feature on the restoration of some churches in Michoacan:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/t-magazine/painted-churches-michoacan-mexico.html
-----
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas Breaking News:
http://goo.gl/1VdeA
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas lecture channels on Youtube:
https://mikeruggerisyoutube.tumblr.com/
Ancient MesoAmerica News:
http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
============================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
============================================================
A researcher has used 'deep learning' to develop a Google specifically for archaeologists:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-google-archaeologists.html
Feature on using AI to translate Indus Valley script (maybe):
https://restofworld.org/2022/indus-translation-ai-code-script
Victor Nuovo's latest:
https://www.addisonindependent.com/2022/02/10/victor-nuovo-look-to-our-great-moral-teachers/
Feature on five inventors killed by their own inventions:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/five-inventors-killed-by-their-own-creations
Feature on the power of nuns in Baroque Spain (I think):
https://smoda.elpais.com/feminismo/devotas-y-diplomaticas-cuando-las-monjas-del-barroco-fueron-el-poder-en-la-sombra-de-los-palacios-reales/
How archaeology influence Agatha Christie's *Death on the Nile*:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-agatha-christies-love-of-archaeology-influenced-death-on-the-nile-180979544/
On Darwin's theories on the evolution of human expressions:
https://theconversation.com/150-years-ago-charles-darwin-wrote-about-how-expressions-evolved-pre-empting-modern-psychology-by-a-century-170880
Not sure where to put this one ... a Tunisian 'enthusiast' has recreated the purple dye made from snails:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02-08/tunisian-enthusiast-recreates-sea-snail-purple-dye-that-defined-ancient-royals
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-695850
Similarly not sure where to put this item on Azerbaijan planning to erase 'Armenian forgery' from its churches:
https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-announces-plans-to-erase-armenian-traces-from-churches
Feature on human fascination with portraits:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220204-why-portraits-have-fascinated-us-for-millennia
Research reveals that Marco Polo had a previously-unknown daughter:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/07/marco-polo-had-previously-unknown-daughter-prior-to-marriage-will-suggests
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63313
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/will-reveals-existence-of-agnese.html
Leonardo seems to have problems drawing a vulva:
https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-695885
Latest desecration of a painting appears to have been done by a bored Russian gallery security guard:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60330758
Feature on the search for a 'missing' Paolo Veronese painting:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-60290162
Feature on Jacques-Louis David:
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/jacques-louis-david-radical-draftsman/
Feature on one of the mysterious women painted by Whistler:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whistlers-woman-in-white-joanna-hiffernan-royal-academy-clkwmpfzh
Feature on the 'Vanitas' genre:
https://mymodernmet.com/vanitas-dutch-paintings/
Latest cheap painting might be a van Dyck:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/van-dyck-infanta-portrait-painting
Feature on Dickens' 'archaic shorthand' notes to himself:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/charles-dickens-secret-notes.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/07/wordle-crack-dickens-code-it-worker-california-shorthand-love-deciphering
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/decoding-charles-dickens-amateur-sleuths-helped-decipher-1859-letter/
Oxford had 'bought back' a 16th century Euclid translation it had given away in the 18th:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/11/oxford-university-buys-back-first-euclid-translation-300-years/
https://digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/879/reader/reader.html?#!preferred/0/package/879/pub/879/page/55/article/272579
Something about the development of writing and 'collective computation':
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-uncorked-bottleneck.html
Suggestion that Isaac Newton was the smartest person in the world:
https://bigthink.com/the-past/smartest-person-world-isaac-newton/
Feature on one of Amelia Earhart's aviator helmet mysteries:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/nyregion/amelia-earhart-aviator-helmet.html
Feature on chimney sweeps:
https://aeon.co/videos/the-perilous-lives-of-the-climbing-boys-who-swept-chimneys-in-19th-century-london
Feature on the use of star maps to locate Shackleton's Endurance:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60352606
Feature on Syphilis:
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/syphilis-name/
A plan to revive aurochs in Europe:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/aurochs-rewilding
More on the centennial of Joyce's *Ulysses* ... coverage varies:
https://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/culture/books/955712/james-joyces-ulysses-turns-100
More on no offers for the Villa Aurora:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-06/la-princesa-texana-el-mural-de-caravaggio-y-las-maravillas-del-palacio-que-nadie-quiere-comprar.html
https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-02-11/se-vende-coleccion-de-arte-con-caravaggio-a-condicion-de-no-moverlos.html
============================================================
CURRENT EVENTS:
============================================================
Plans to install a statue of Chief Tomochichi are raising concerns:
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-georgia-atlanta-native-americans-e3615afe670d9d6e64c4b0098e44fbf5
Reading Thucydides during a pandemic:
https://theamericanscholar.org/reading-thucydides-in-a-time-of-pandemic/
What Cupid can teach us about love and desire:
https://theconversation.com/what-the-mythical-cupid-can-teach-us-about-the-meaning-of-love-and-desire-176760
https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2022/february/joel-christensen-cupid.html
Feature on assorted Valentine's Day Traditions:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/655143/odd-old-timey-valentines-day-traditions
Some items on the history of Valentine's Day:
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/the-history-of-valentines-day-why-do-we-celebrate-it-and-who-was-st-valentine-3564355
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/02/11/history-valentines-day-saint-valentine/6708885001/
https://therecorddelta.com/article/the-surprisingly-dark-history-of-valentines-day
Review of a book about vintage Valentine's Day cards and the like:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/vintage-valentines.html
Feature on John Wesley Gilbert, the first Black archaeologist:
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/extraordinary-life-john-wesley-gilbert-first-black-archaeologist
Feature on Carter G. Woodson:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/02/celebrating-black-history-months-founder/
Pondering the origins of racism (in the wake of Whoopi Goldberg's comments):
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/opinion/whoopi-goldberg-race-history.html
... and the connection of racism to the slave trade:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/opinion/slave-trade-race-history.html
The Dutch Central Bank has acknowledged its slave trade connections:
https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-02-09/el-banco-central-holandes-reconoce-sus-lazos-con-la-esclavitud-durante-la-era-colonial.html
More on the Super Bowl and Roman numerals:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-2022-number-roman-numerals/aoszl3nvejlp7krnjlrususg
https://sports.nbcsports.com/2022/02/05/super-bowl-2022-roman-numerals-naming/
https://www.distractify.com/p/why-does-the-super-bowl-use-roman-numerals
============================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
============================================================
Ancient Greek Theatre:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1177165/forthcoming-exhibition-on-ancient-theater-at-the-museum-of-cycladic-art/
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/02/10/athens-museum-of-cycladic-art-hosts-ancient-theatre-exhibition/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/cycladic-museums-next-exhibition-will-be-about-the-ancient-greek-theater/
Stonehenge:
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-world-of-stonehenge/
https://www.scotsman.com/news/national/ancient-orkney-artefacts-show-how-happening-islands-influenced-stonehenge-3564541
https://www.edp24.co.uk/lifestyle/heritage/seahenge-in-exhibition-at-british-museum-in-london-8674748
Evil Eye:
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/artifacts-protecting-against-evil-eye-host-visitors-in-izmir/news
Karl Marx:
https://www.dw.com/en/karl-marx-five-reasons-why-the-thinker-was-ahead-of-his-time/a-60716738
Holbein:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/arts/design/holbein-morgan-portraits-renaissance.html
In Pursuit of Venus:
https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-02-09/venus
The Grand Egyptian Museum is boasting having 4700 Tut artifacts:
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/112759/4-700-relics-of-Tutankhamun-successfully-exhibited-in-Grand-Egyptian
... and a general update on progress:
https://dailynewsegypt.com/2022/02/10/gem-received-and-restored-56000-artefacts-so-far-tourism-ministry/
The Troy Museum is adding an online component:
https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/turkeys-troy-museum-to-be-introduced-in-digital-environment/news
The Met is renovating its Ancient Near East and Cypriot galleries:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/arts/design/met-galleries-renovations.html
============================================================
AUCTIONS AND SALES RELATED
============================================================
Big bucks for a 'forgotten' Strigel work:
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/e2-8-million-for-a-forgotten-painting-of-1520/
============================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
============================================================
DNA suggests a large scale Bronze Age migration to Orkney, which replaced much of the local population:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-bronze-age-women-genetic-landscape.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220207155634.htm
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942423
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10485783/Archaeology-Orkney-saw-mass-migration-Europe-rest-UK-4-500-years-ago.html
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic-landscape-of-orkney/142705
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/08/bronze-age-women-altered-genetic-landscape-of-orkney/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10328-220209-orkney-bronze-age
cf: https://www.pnas.org/content/119/8/e2108001119
Reviewish of Jennifer Raff, *Origins: A Genetic History of the Americas*:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/review/origin-genetic-history-americas-jennifer-raff.html
... and a piece by Raff herself:
https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/
============================================================
THE TECHY SIDE
============================================================
Feature on some child mummy scans at the British Museum:
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/63304
Feature on using the Google Ngram Viewer:
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/the-digital-tool-that-helps-robert-shiller-understand-the-past
Latest facial reconstructions of assorted historical figures:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/arist-ai-historical-figures
============================================================
CLIMATE MATTERS
============================================================
A number of coastal sites in Africa are threatened by climate change:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2307915-over-190-african-heritage-sites-threatened-by-rising-seas-this-century/
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/02/heritage-sites-in-africa-threatened-by-climate-change/142745
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/african-heritage-sites-threatened-by.html
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/african-heritage-sites-threatened-by-coastal-flooding-and-erosion/
Climate change concerns for Hadrian's Wall:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-climate-threatens-hadrian-wall-treasures.html
https://www.rfi.fr/en/climate-change-threatens-hadrian-s-wall-treasures-in-england
https://www.france24.com/en/video/20220208-hadrian-s-wall-climate-change-threatens-ancient-roman-structure
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2022/02/how-climate-change-is-washing-away.html
============================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
============================================================
Naples:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/in-naples-whats-2000-years-old-is-new-again
Medieval European castles:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/frederic-chaubin-stone-age-castles/index.html
Hillforts in Britain:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/feb/10/uk-ancient-forts-stanwick-st-john-north-yorkshire-five-hill-forts
Sardinia:
https://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/regions/sardinia/2022/02/10/archaeology-sardinia-island-of-megaliths-in-thessaloniki_84e9a625-8d13-4892-a477-f292b8fb6487.html
============================================================
PERFORMANCES AND MUSIC RELATED
============================================================
Pondering Scott Joplin's 'The Entertainer':
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/02/07/1078314203/reconsidering-scott-joplins-the-entertainer
Criticizing Hollywood's 'lost treasure' movies:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/11/booty-calls-hollywoods-problem-with-lost-treasure-yarns
============================================================
CRIME BEAT
============================================================
Vague item on vandalism at a site in Shahhat (Libya):
https://en.libyan-cna.net/tourism-and-archaeology/act-of-sabotage-in-an-archaeological-site-in-shahhat/
Thousands of antiquities (lots of coins) recovered in a pre-dawn raid in the Nablus area:
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-695963
https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-antiquities-looter-arrested-in-west-bank-with-thousands-of-coins/
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2022/02/israel-arrests-an-antiquities-thief-and-recovers-thousands-of-precious-relics/
A major antiquities smuggling case revolving around a prominent Egyptian businessman has resumed:
https://www.foreignbrief.com/daily-news/egypt-antiquities-trafficking-case-resumes-proceedings/
----------
conflict antiquities:
http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/
anonymous swiss collector:
http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/
Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:
http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/
Looting Matters:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/
Illicit Cultural Property:
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/
SAFE:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/
============================================================
REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY
============================================================
A Belgian museum returned some Nazi-looted art to heirs:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/10/justice-can-triumph-painting-looted-by-nazis-returned-to-owners-after-80-years
https://www.dw.com/en/belgian-museum-returns-nazi-looted-painting-to-jewish-family/a-60735664
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/belgium-museum-nazi-looted/index.html
The US returned an ancient helmet to Bulgaria:
https://bg.usembassy.gov/us-embassy-announces-the-return-of-an-ancient-helmet-along-with-a-new-program-to-protect-bulgarian-antiquities-02-11-2022/
The Boston MFA returned a couple of pieces to Mali:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/02/08/mfa-returns-looted-objects-to-mali
The US returned items to Chile that were on the auction block in Philadelphia:
https://www.latercera.com/nacional/noticia/estados-unidos-devuelve-objetos-historicos-del-norte-de-chile-que-iban-a-ser-subastados-en-filadelfia/L4XELZCNSVFLLAUWTOB4M5RGC4/
Hawaii is receiving ancestral remains from assorted European museums:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/arts/design/hawaii-remains-europe.html
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/02/11/germany-returns-ancestral-human-remains-in-berlin-museum-collection-to-hawaii
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2022/02/11/sacred-remains-ancestors-return-home/
A stolen Buddha that turned up in Italy will be returned:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/arts/design/stolen-buddha-statue-india.html
More on a Lebanon museum returning 300+ items to Iraq:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2019366/middle-east
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-to-iraq/2022/02/06/fc681cfc-8752-11ec-838f-0cfdf69cce3c_story.html
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-16835581.php
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-eras-iraq-82706461
https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20220207-lebanese-museum-returns-millennia-old-antiquities-to-iraq
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220207-lebanese-museum-returns-millennia-old-antiquities-to-iraq
https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/02/07/hundreds-of-artifacts-of-different-eras-returned-to-iraq-from-lebanon/
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iraq/2022/02/08/iraqs-heritage-faces-organised-sabotage-as-returned-antiquities-go-on-display/
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/lebanon-returns-337-artifacts-of-different-eras-to-iraq-171341
http://www.archaeology.org/news/10329-220210-iraq-artifacts-repatriated
Feature on Nazi-looted art:
https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/2022/02/08/nazi-looted-art-is-under-the-spotlight-thanks-to-musee-du-louvre-and-sothebys/
============================================================
NUMISMATICA
============================================================
Feature on coins of Roman emperors who had very brief rules:
https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/short-timers-on-ancient-coins-the-briefest-reigns-of-roman-emperors/
Latest e-Sylum:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n06.html
... and the one which should appear later today:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v25/club_nbs_esylum_v25n07.html
------------------------
Coin Week:
http://www.coinweek.com/
============================================================
OBITUARIES
============================================================
Neil Faulkner:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/07/neil-faulkner-archaeologist-historian-revolutionary-socialist/
https://www.archaeologyworldwide.com/post/neil-faulkner-obituary
Martha Sharp Joukowsky:
https://www.brown.edu/academics/archaeology/news/msj
Hamid Khatib-Shahidi:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/470066/Prominent-Iranian-archaeologist-Hamid-Khatib-Shahidi-dies-at
Norma Waterson:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/arts/music/norma-waterson-dead.html
John Rice Irwin:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/john-rice-irwin-dead.html
============================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
============================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:
https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/3135-audio-news-from-archaeologica-january-30th-through-february-5th-2022
============================================================
GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS
============================================================
Archaeology Magazine News Page:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/
About.com Archaeology:
http://archaeology.about.com/
Archaeology Briefs:
http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
Atlas Obscura:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/
Heritage Daily:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/
Sapiens Archaeology:
https://www.sapiens.org/category/archaeology/
Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:
http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
============================================================
PODCASTS/VODCASTS
============================================================
Archaeosoup:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch
Archaeology Podcast Network:
http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/
============================================================
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