Latest News

SHARJAH – An Australian-American archaeological team hosted by the Antiquities Directorate of the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information from December 2003 till last month, conducted detailed inspections of the Iron Age site found earlier in Muweileh in Sharjah.

The site, located 15km west of Sharjah city, has already revealed substantial evidence for a 3000-year old settlement which is one of the largest sites dating back to that age discovered so far in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Previous finds included the oldest writing found in the UAE, the oldest Iron-Age artifacts and many buildings including a columned hall that must have functioned as the centre of an economic and political power within the settlement.This season’s excavations, the eighth at the same site, revealed several buildings inside the fortification wall, said a spokesperson of the department. “Previously, we had assumed that the central area of the site consisted of an open courtyard, but it appears that it is not the case,” the spokesperson said, adding that the recent excavations also revealed a new gateway in the eastern side of the settlement. “

This was constructed from stone and had a hardened plaster floor and had evidence for holes for large wooden doors. Several complete painted vessels and some iron artifacts were found associated with this gateway. To the south, a new building adjoining the fortification was also unearthed. This house is larger than most at the site and had plastered floors. A stone incense burner was found on the floor of one of the rooms of this building,” he said.

He said the joint team found evidence throughout all these buildings of a fiery destruction that brought the settlement to an end around 750BC. “This conclusion was drawn from the fact that a lot of archaeological materials have been discovered including pots, clay ovens, animal bones, burnt dates and date-seeds and shells that would have been obtained by the old inhabitants from the coast for eating,” the spokesperson observed, revealing that continued analysis of these finds will provide unparalleled data on how people lived 3000 years ago in Sharjah.

“It is now clear that the ancient settlement of Muweileh was larger and more complicated than we originally thought. We look forward to continued research at the site with the support and collaboration of Sharjah Archaeological Museum,” said a spokesperson for the Australian-American team.

Meanwhile, a Spanish Archaeological expedition from Otonoma University arrived in Sharjah last week to conduct excavations at Ak Thaquiba site in Al Madam Plain.

The Spanish team will focus on resuming excavations of ancient canals of water springs discovered last season in addition to digging other parts of this agricultural settlement which dates back to the first millennium B.C.

khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2004/February/theuae_February114.xml&section=theuae

A village from the Copper Age was found in northern Bulgaria. The village is situated just 800 metes away from the place where the bridge Vidin -Kalafat is to be built.

The archaeological treasure was found near the Antimovo village when a study in connection to the Danube Bridge 2 construction was made.

The ancient village is not within the road-bed of the bridge, but all necessary measures for its preservation will be taken, engineer Kostantin Zhiponov, one of the people dealing with the construction of the bridge said, cited by the local radio Gama.

Some of the finds will be transported to the archeological museum in the town. More researches will be launched in the spring of 2004.

novinite.com/view_news.php?id=30841

A decision on the application to extend works at the Heddle Quarry in Firth has been deferred.

Members at this morning’s Orkney Islands Council planning committee meeting agreed to defer the decision for more detailed geological and environmental reports.

By Carl Butler (from IC Northwales)

A visitor centre to highlight the Bronze Age and Celtic culture of north east Wales is planned and could attract up to 150,000 tourists a year.

At its core would be the famous gold Bronze Age Mold Cape, currently held in the British Museum.

Experts have drawn up a study and believe a centre is feasible, probably on land next to Clwyd Theatr Cymru.

The CAPE (Culture, Archaeology, Prehistory Experience) Project chairman is Adrian Barsby, of Mold’s Beaufort Park Hotel. He said: “Early indications from the report suggest the project is viable, there are a number of possible sites available and it has the potential to fill a tourism gap in the region.

“We urge local people to take an interest and get involved. It is vital we now widen the debate and engage local people at the earliest opportunity in the future planning of the project in the hope that they will get behind it.

“Early reactions from people consulted have been positive.”

To get the project going, the report will suggest trying to establish an academic centre first which could be a base for archaeological dig teams.

With its proximity to the major towns and cities of the North West, a new visitor attraction could attract anything between 50,000 and 150,000 a year, say the consultants.

The team behind CAPE includes representatives of the area’s tourism organisations as well as local businesses, Flintshire County Council, Mold 2000, Mold Town Partnership and the Welsh Development Agency.

The whole idea was sparked by a drive in the town for the return of its famous Bronze Age cape.

* The report will be presented to the public on Monday, February 16 in Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold at 7pm. Copies of the study report will be available to view in Mold Library.

by Paula Tegerdine of ‘This is Purbeck’ online
Wednesday 04 February 2004

Quietly hidden among the rolling hills of Purbeck is a unique and important archaeological landscape.

A report just published by English Heritage reveals the extent of earthworks, medieval field patterns and trackways at Corfe Common, near Corfe Castle.

The area has attracted the interest of antiquarians for centuries because of its eight Bronze Age barrows (burial mounds).

English Heritage’s latest research has revealed another two barrows on East Common and identified other features showing how the land has been used for farming over the centuries.

An impressive prehistoric or Romano-British field system known as `Celtic fields’ were identified on the southern flank of the common. Read on here...

by Richard Sadler of The Guardian
Wednesday February 4, 2004

A public inquiry into plans for a dual carriageway under Stonehenge will stoke the fierce debate on how best to protect a site on a par with the Taj Mahal and the pyramids.

Six years ago, when the new Labour government was seeking to justify spending £758m on the Millennium Dome, ministers were finalising plans involving another national monument, but it, unlike the dome, had been built to last – about five millennia at the last count.

Stonehenge, one of the world’s most famous landmarks and Europe’s most sensitive archaeological site, is on a par with the Taj Mahal and the Pyramid Fields of Giza on the UN’s list of world heritage sites. But the prehistoric monument was due for a makeover – at least, that is how the plans were sold by the government. Complete story here....

Interim website for the ‘Northumberland Rock Art. Web Access to the Beckensall Archive’ project containing information on the project, nice photo gallery and list of sources for more info. Main website to go live later this year. Enjoy. rockart.ncl.ac.uk

The Migdale Hoard has been returned to the Highlands of Scotland for an exhibition at Inverness Museum. A priceless collection of Bronze Age jewellery – including a bronze axe head, bronze hair ornaments, sets of bronze bangles and anklets, and several carved jet and shale buttons – it was found in May 1900 in a rock crevice above Loch Migdale, Sutherland.
Although kept in Edinburgh at the National Museums of Scotland, the artefacts are being lent to Inverness Museum for an exhibition lasting until mid-June. Local Highland councillor Alison Magee said “I’m delighted that these highly important artefacts will be on display in the Highlands close to where they were found. I hope as many people as possible from the Kyle of Sutherland and the wider Highlands will be able to visit the museum and see for themselves this stunning example of our local Bronze Age history.”
However, the collection may be incomplete, as Inverness Museum archaeologist Patricia Weeks explained “Intriguingly, some of the pieces found with the hoard never made it to the National Museum.” Smaller artefacts were apparently picked up at the time of discovery by local children, and it’s possible some of the missing pieces may still be in the area.
Later this year, Dr Alison Sheridan of the National Museums of Scotland will give a talk in the Highlands on the Migdale Hoard, but the time and place have still to be confirmed.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, stones were washed down to East Anglia with a vast river that cut through the middle of England. But what the experts are puzzling over today is where this river ran its course. If they can plot its course and date it accurately, they could prove there were humans living in Britain 500,000 years ago and fill a gap in the prehistoric knowledge. And a hand-axe discovered at Lakenheath in the 1800s could be the vital link they need.
This is part of an historical puzzle being pieced together by British archaeologists as part of the national Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) survey. Members of AHOB were at Maidscross Heath, Lakenheath in Suffolk, taking samples from the site of the ancient riverbed to help them track its course. The site was chosen mainly because antiquarian geologist RW Flower found a hand-axe on the heath in 1869. In three pits, scientists have already found gravel deposits, which prove the river ran from the West Midlands down through Suffolk and Norfolk.
Archaeologist Nick Ashton, the British Museum’s senior curator in the department of pre-history and Europe, said they are trying to look at when humans were here and what kind of climate they were living in. The evidence suggests the hand-axe found at Lakenheath was probably carried onto the site by the river from somewhere else in England. “There is a huge gap in human occupation between 250,000 and 60,000 years ago. There seems to be a complete absence of humans in Britain – probably because of the creation of the English Channel” said Ashton. “We are looking at dating this site. The hand-axe found by Flower is slightly rolled smooth, caused by it rolling in river gravel. This (site) would not have been where it was made. The axe could have been eroded out of an even earlier deposit, which means it is at least 0.5 million years old, possibly even 600,000 years old,” he added.
Simon Lewis, a lecturer at Queen Mary College of London, said this river bed was an exciting find. “Drainage altered beyond recognition during glaciation 450,000 years ago.” At that time the River Thames flowed through Suffolk and Essex, but it was diverted to its present course by the pressure of the ice. At Lakenheath there is evidence of quartzite and quartz that has travelled from a very old deposit in the West Midlands. “Lakenheath is a fragment of this river’s story. It flowed out across to Great Yarmouth and out to a massive delta where it met the Rhine and other large continental rivers,” he said.

Source: EDP24 (28 January 2004)

An ancient rock covered in carved symbols has been discovered in a South American jungle by an archaeologist from Cornwall.

Julien Chenoweth, from St Mawes, said a date test showed the carvings were as old as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Whole story here at BBCi

Lucy Andrew
ABC Science Online
Friday, 30 January 2004

A Greco-Illyrian helmet found at the Cetina River valley in Croatia (University of Birmingham).

A waterlogged archaeological site in Croatia has given European archaeologists an insight into Bronze Age life.

Researchers from the U.K.’s University of Birmingham, the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split, Croatia have uncovered an underwater site.

The site is in the Cetina River valley in Croatia, which so far has yielded metal, stone and timber artefacts, some dating back to 6000 BC.

Project leader, Dr Vincent Gaffney, director of the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham, is excited about the find.

“The Cetina Valley is certainly the most remarkable site that I have, and will ever, have the privilege of being involved in ... I believe this to be one of the most important archaeological wetlands in Europe,” he said.

Balkan archaeologists have long known about the site but it is only now that the British researchers realised its significance.

Initial surveys of the site in October last year yielded artefacts from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.

The Neolithic or New Stone Age was characterised by the use of polished stone tools and weapons; the Bronze Age was when the metal alloy bronze was made by combining copper and tin.

The archaeologists found artefacts including swords, helmets and a Roman dagger and sheath that date back to the Bronze Age. There were also jewellery, axes and spearheads.

The researchers could also see remains of wooden buildings from the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, submerged in the water at the bottom of the valley.

The fact that the site was waterlogged has led to exceptional preservation of the artefacts, said Gaffney.

The river would have been an important source of water for the people who once lived there, Gaffney said. Inhabitants seem to have thrown metal and stone objects into the water deliberately, possibly as an offering to river gods.

The Cetina valley, Croatia (University of Birmingham)
Team member and environmental archaeologist Dr David Smith said he planned to examine ancient plant and soil samples from the area.

“Through examination of pollen cores and peat samples from within the basin we can gain a real insight into the everyday life of the people; the food they ate, the crops and animals they kept, and the crafts and activities they pursued.”

River sediments will provide information about the Croatian environment over the past 10,000 years, said Smith.

The researchers will go back to the Cetina valley in April or May this year to continue their search for more clues to its past.

abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1032539.htm

Egypt, Local, 1/29/2004

The Italian team excavating at Madi city in Fayyoum has unearthed an open structure dating back to the Ptolemaic age.

The floor is composed of a single large block of limestone with a groove 10 cm deep and 20 cm wide. In the middle there is a 12 cm-square hole.

The team found two balls of polished limestone, one of which fits the groove and the other the square hole. The structure is like no other found in the ancient world.

After study it was proposed that it might be a first attempt at the practice of bowling.

The pre-sumed bowling track was found next to the remains of a number of houses each made up of two rooms with a large hall.

The team has recently found papyri scrolls dating back to the Ptolemaic period, pottery shards, glass utensils, copper tools and some pieces of faience in the area.

The archaeological site of Medinet Madi is one of the most complete. The oldest of its monuments is a 12th Dynasty temple dedicated to the harvest goddess Renenutet and the crocodile-god Sobek.

The temple is magnificently decorated with reliefs showing the kings of the 12th Dynasty worshipping the gods.

arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040129/2004012928.html

A harp enthusiast is hoping to recreate the first working copy of the famous Harp of Ur, which was vandalised in Iraq’s national museum following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Andy Lowings, 52, from Cambridgeshire, wants the replica instrument to be as close to the 4,750 year-old original as possible, even down to the source of the wood.

His £25,000 project caught the imagination of a nearby RAF squadron who agreed to collect two pieces of cedar wood from Basra and presented it to Mr Lowings on Wednesday.

The musical director of the Stamford Harp Festival was moved to act last April when the harp’s remains were among antiquities destroyed by thieves in Baghdad’s main museum.

“I want it to continue as a playing instrument to bring very early Iraqi and Arabic culture to people’s attention again,” he said.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/3445049.stm

Gold earring found buried under a few inches of soil in a ploughed field in East Yorkshire could be more than 3,000 years old.

A metal detector enthusiast, part of a group from Durham, stumbled across the treasure near Driffield last year.
The late Bronze Age ring has narrow stripes of yellow and paler gold and when analysed by experts at the British Museum was found to be 73 per cent gold and 23 per cent silver. Tests showed that the precious metals covered a hoop of base metal.
Weighing just 10gms, it was dated between 1150BC and 750BC.
There is no idea yet of the value, which will be settled next month by an independent valuation committee. Both the British Museum and local museums will be given the first chance to bid.
An inquest in Hull heard the earring was found by Gary Turnbull in around six inches of soil.
Yesterday, after the ring was declared treasure, the landowner said she hoped it would go to a local museum.
The farmer, who asked not to be named, said: “These metal detectorists have been coming for a few years but this is the first thing to come to light.”

yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticleMore2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=731820&Page=1&ReturnUrl=NewsFrontMore.aspx

thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102060&command=displayContent&sourceNode=100885&contentPK=8674870

The caves will reopen on Saturday, February 7, and the whole £600,000 project will be finished in late spring. There will be a 80-seater visitor centre and reception area, including a coffee house, shop and exhibition galleries. The cavern now also has a licence to operate a function bar and hold events underground.

New exhibition galleries will hold the artefacts that have been found over the last century.

“Carved Stone Balls – a Prehistoric Mystery”
The exhibition runs January 19 – March 31 2004 at the Marischal Museum in Aberdeen.

No-one knows exactly what the balls were used for, but the exhibition includes suggestions from archaeologists, the children of Woodside School and the sculptor Keiji Nagahiro (two of whose sculptures are included in the exhibition).

For further information contact Dr Hilary Murray on 01224 274305 or visit the website at www.abdn.ac.uk/marischalmuseum
or
abdn.ac.uk/marischalmuseum/exhibitions/current.hti

“As over 70 stone balls will be on display this is a unique opportunity to see one of the largest collections of these enigmatic carvings.”

Also why not see Annabel Carey’s batiks of standing stones, “Spirit of Stones”, also on at the museum until the 19th of February. Her inspirations include well known north-east sites such as Sunhoney, Cullerlie and Loanhead of Daviot. An example is on the website above.

Full details at ‘this is amesbury‘
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/amesbury/news/AMES_NEWS3.html

English Heritage bosses are to be told by the people of Durrington and Larkhill to rethink their plans for a land train to ferry visitors to the World Heritage site at Stonehenge.

Durrington parish council chairman David Healing told a public meeting in the village last Friday night that the proposed route for the land trains would pass very close to the rear of houses in Strangways and Fargo Road, in Larkhill.

More than 100 Durrington and Larkhill residents attending the meeting, held at Durrington village hall, recognised that visitors would have to be transported to Stonehenge but unanimously agreed that the parish council should oppose the planned route and put forward viable alternatives.

They also signed a petition which, when completed, will be handed to English Heritage.

From the BBC -

‘The Neanderthals were not close relatives of modern humans and represent a single species quite distinct from our own, scientists say.
3D comparisons of Neanderthal, modern human and other primate skulls confirm theories that the ancient people were a breed apart, the researchers report.

Others claim Neanderthals contributed significantly to the modern gene pool. ‘

Those scientists just can’t seem to agree on Neanderthals. Full story at -

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3431609.stm

Conservation Audit of Archaeological Cave Resources in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales

There is a public meeting to be held at the Medway Community Centre, New Street, Bakewell, Derbyshire on Monday 9th February 2004 at 7 pm.

The meeting is to allow interested members of the public a chance to meet us and to share our collective knowledge about the caves of the Peak District.

Archaeological remains, such as pottery, metalwork, stone tools and bones, are often preserved within deposits in natural caves, fissures and rock shelters. However, caves that contain archaeological remains are vulnerable to intrusive disturbance, and it is often not known which caves in a region are likely to contain archaeologically important material and whether the archaeological deposits are adequately protected for future generations.

The project is being funded by English Heritage and is based at the Universities of Sheffield and Bradford and the worked is being carried out by ARCUS, the archaeology consultancy unit at Sheffield. The aims of the study are to assess the archaeological potential, current management and potential threats to the integrity of deposits in archaeological caves within the National Parks.

The project team are particularly keen to involve members of the public in this study. For this reason, the project team are organising separate public meetings in the Peak District and in the Yorkshire Dales, at which archaeologists, cavers and representatives of conservation organisations and interested parties can discuss the project and provide suggestions for ways in which our knowledge of cave archaeology can be improved.

Contact Details
I would like to involve as many people in the consultation and if further details are needed or that you have information that you think would be helpful to us, please contact Helen at [email protected] or telephone (0114) 222 2934

Archaeology buffs are invited to a presentation on the Yorkshire Dales next month. The presentation, by local expert Alex Eckford, will be at the next meeting of Bedale Archaeology and History Society on February 3 at Bedale Hall from 7.30pm. Admission £2 for non-members. For more information contact programme secretary Patricia Tricker on 01677 450176

Source
The Evening Gazette 24-01-03

Where next????

World heritage site faces quarry threat – John Ross, The Scotsman

news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=84342004

Residents living close to an island quarry fear its planned expansion could affect an internationally renowned archaeological site.

Orkney Islands Council will next week consider a planning application to extend the islands’ largest quarry on Heddle Hill in Finstown which is near the Neolithic sites of Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Skara Brae, classed as a World Heritage Site.

Opponents of the planned expansion by Orkney Aggregates Ltd say that it would breach council regulations and have significant visual, geological and environmental impacts.

Simon Treasure, who lives near the site, claimed information supplied by the company with the application is out of date and said that a full assessment would have to be made of the impact of the expansion.

He said: “Heddle quarry is highly visible, indeed it is the most visible man-made object in Orkney, seen by ships 50 miles to the east on a clear day. It is the nearest thing in Orkney to industrial pollution. It is at the top of a 400ft hill.
The south-west approach to Heddle Hill is less than 2,000 yards from Maeshowe and the Stones of Stenness.

“The western boundary of the quarry is probably less that two miles from the WHS. At present the quarry is only visible from the north and eastern approach to Finstown, not from the south or west. We recognise the importance of a suitable quarry within the county. Heddle quarry has good stone and has been in operation, satisfying a high demand from customers, for 100 years, the principal current customer being Orkney Islands Council.

“However, given the intense natural sensitivity of the Orcadian landscape and the importance of the WHS, it is felt that, whilst trying to keep Heddle quarry in operation, permission for any extension can only be granted after fully meeting the demands imposed by statutory local planning policy and of a fully independent environmental, visual and geological impact assessment process in the clear light of day and with the total involvement of relevant outside agencies.”

He added: “It is our contention that the views of the hill will be affected from all sides, including most notably those from Stenness and the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site at the Ring of Brodgar, Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe.

“We may be wrong. But there is no supporting evidence to tell either way. Blowing two million tonnes of rock up is not something that can be undone.”

The application will be discussed by the council’s environment, planning and protective services committee on 28 January. A council spokesman said the authority did not wish to comment ahead of the meeting.

Roy Brown, a director of Orkney Aggregates, said: “A topographic survey is being carried out and we expect the consultant to confirm our view that the World Heritage Site will be unaffected by the quarry extension.

“All necessary reports and surveys have already been commissioned, including a visual impact assessment and a botanical and habitat survey.”

Susan Denyer, secretary of ICOMOS-UK, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, said her organisation has not objected to the proposal.

“We would get involved if we believe a development would be damaging to a world heritage site, but we have to be selective in the causes we take up,” she said. We have looked at this case and although the WHS is visible from the site, it is some distance from it.”

It is understood that Historic Scotland, a statutory consultee, has also not objected to the planned extension as it is felt it would not impact on the WHS or scheduled ancient monuments.

However a spokeswoman for the agency would only say: “We have sent our comments to the council but it would not be appropriate to make these comments public before the application is considered.”

It appears that the Neanderthal people were unable to cope with the increasingly cold weather despite migrating south and were supplanted by a more technologically flexible group, our ancestors.

Full story newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994586

More at www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

Holidaymakers will be able to spend a week living in the Iron Age at a new tourist attraction being planned in the Forest of Dean. Tourists will give up their clothes and modern items and dress in costume and spend time living in the village of Cinderbury. They will sleep in primitive huts and will have to cook for themselves, mine ore, make tools and weapons and look after the village’s animals.

Mobile phones and watches will be confiscated and the project website says that “make-up, jewellery, hair products and perfumes are strongly discouraged and will possibly be mocked”.

The living history project is being created near Clearwell.

Although corporate funds are still needed it is hoped the village will be open by May.

For more information about Cinderbury or for anyone interested in funding the project go to www.cinderbury.co.uk

Anyone fancy ‘persuading’ your work mates to do something for an ancient site? I found the following opportunity as part of the National Trust Employee volunteering programme at nationaltrust.org.uk/employeevolunteering

“Leigh Woods is well-known to many as the backdrop to the Clifton Suspension Bridge and is used as an escape from the bustling city of Bristol by thousands of people every year. Come and help the National Trust to remove encroaching vegetation from the Iron Age hill-fort of Stokeleigh Camp within the heart of the woods. Overlooking the Avon Gorge, volunteers will work alongside National Trust wardens to conserve this important archaeological feature and show these impressive ramparts at their best! Suitable for groups of ten people.”

WHAT: practical work and diy
WHERE: Leigh Woods, near Bristol
WHEN: November – March
YOU NEED: Old clothes and stout footwear

Interested? Call the EVP Team 01793 462787 or email to – [email protected]

Long article on Knoxnews.com all about these 4.5 – 10,000 year old glyphs covering the Judaculla Rock in North Carolina, with info on folklore and history too.

knoxnews.com/kns/news_columnists/article/0,1406,KNS_359_2585278,00.html