Roman Bath in Jerusalem
Brief item from the Jerusalem Post: Archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a 1,800-year-old bathing pool in Jerusalem built by soldiers from the Tenth Roman Legion, the Legion that destroyed the Temple a few years before, reported Israel Radio on Monday. Remains of the pool were discovered during excavations in the Jewish Quarter where [...]
Surveying Philosophiana
Philosophiana is the modern ‘Sofiana’ which has been archaeologically poked and prodded for the past fifty years or so … just down the road from Piazza Armerina … from SiciliInformazioni comes news of plans for another survey there: Da oltre 15 giorni è presente a Mazzarino una spedizione di archeologi che proviene da un progetto [...]
Cupid Cameo from the City of David
Not sure why I can’t find this up at the IAA site yet, so the Ha’aretz coverage seems to be the best right now: Israeli archeologists unveiled a 2,000 year old semi-precious cameo bearing the image of Cupid on Monday, which the Israel Antiquities Authorities (IAA) said was among several items located in the City [...]
Caistor St Edmund Dig Update
A very nice report from the Evening News … note the link at the end to the project’s blog: They have been excavating for just a week, but already members of an archaeological team at a Roman town on the outskirts of Norwich have found “huge quantities” of artefacts. A thousand visitors have been to [...]
Rethinking the ‘Domus of the Dancing Cherubs’ at Aquileia
This probably won’t last long at ANSA: Archaeologists working on the remains of an ancient dwelling in northern Italy have reassessed their ideas about the site after uncovering lavish decorations and imposing architectural features. The building in Aquileia, which previously appeared to be a normal Roman villa, has now emerged as a majestic mansion complex, [...]
Roman Socks and Sandals Rereredux
Newspapers in the UK are starting to get agog over a recent find … the Telegraph seems typical: New evidence from an archaeological dig has found that legionnaires wore socks with sandals. Rust on a nail from a Roman sandal found in newly discovered ruins in North Yorkshire appears to contain fibres which could suggest [...]
Odysseus’ Palace Claim
As usual, the day I’m away from my laptop some major news manages to accumulate in mailboxes, twitterfeeds, and on Facebook. At this point, the ‘best’ coverage (note the scare quotes) of this story comes from the Telegraph; skipping the intro bit: Nearly 3,000 years after Odysseus returned from his journey, the team from the [...]
Inscriptions from Pompeiopolis
From World Bulletin … there seems to be a persistent misspelling of Pompeiopolis: New inscriptions were unearthed during excavations in Pompeipolis ancient city in Taskopru in the northern province of Kastamonu. Prof. Dr. Christian Marek, who has been examining inscriptions uncovered in Pompeipolis, told the AA correspondent that inscriptions were about festivals of Roman era. [...]
Pre Roman Remains at Brading Roman Villa
From the County Press: THE third phase of the Big Dig at Brading Roman Villa may well have been one of the toughest excavations eminent archaeologist Sir Barry Cunliffe had ever undertaken but it has yielded some treasures and a greater understanding of Brading’s history up to its Roman occupation. With the three-week dig ending [...]
Major Temple Site from LeMans/Vindunum
From the Guardian: Excavations near the antique city of Vindunum (now Le Mans) have revealed a vast religious site dating from the first to the third centuries AD with remarkably well-preserved offerings. Sometimes archaeology requires imagination. And you need it to conjure up the vast complex of temples that stood nearly 2,000 years ago on [...]
Major Find (Maybe?) From Apollonia
Here’s one Tim Parkin (and others) and I have been chatting about on Facebook … AFP via PhysOrg: Archaeologists unearthed a Roman bust from the 2nd century AD hailed as the most important archaeological find of the last 50 years in Albania, experts said Friday. “It is an exceptional discovery, the most important in the [...]
Yewden ‘Brothel’ Followup
Remember that claimed brothel site with the 97 infant burials from the Yewden Villa in Hambleden? Here’s an incredibly interesting followup: ARCHAEOLOGISTS investigating a mass burial of 97 infants were ‘horrified’ to find what they believe to be the skeleton of a dismembered child. Chiltern Archaeologists suspect the site in Hambleden could have been a [...]
Hekatomnus’ Tomb Found(?)
I’ve already griped about how my low-bandwidth situation while visiting my mother was incredibly annoying when there was big archaeological news, so by way of praeteritio, I won’t mention it again. Even so, another example of which were reports of a tomb find in Milas, Turkey. The initial English report brought back by my spiders [...]
Nysa Dig Resumes
From Hurriyet: Archaeologists have begun excavations at the ancient Greek city of Nysa, in western Turkey, where they hope to find new artifacts around the theater, agora and gymnasium. Professor Vedat İdil, head of the excavation team from Ankara University, said the team, comprised of Turkish, Canadian and American architects, archaeologists and historians, plans to [...]
Latest from Peperikon
The last bits from a piece at Novinite: The latest Perperikon finds presented Tuesday include a human idol from the 5th century BC, a bronze axe and a Thracian war knife. The archeologist explained that during the first day of the excavations they also found a medical instrument from Roman times, which has been used [...]
Pausulae Discovered?
From Adnkronos: Aerial photos taken on Monday from a police surveillance plane have revealed what is believed to be a large ancient Roman settlement near the eastern Italian city of Macerata. Archaeologists say the site could be part of the mysterious city of Pausulae. The city is described by 1st century AD historian Pliny The [...]
Templum Pacis to Come to Light! (and more!?)
This is potentially very exciting and I’m surprised it hasn’t been picked up by more English press coverage … the conclusion to a Rossella Lorenzi piece at Discovery News: The centerpiece of the Forum of Peace was indeed the temple. Built in 71-75 A.D by Vespasian, the Temple of Peace celebrated the brutal pacification of [...]
Manicure Set from Myra-Andriake (Turkey)
The only version in English that I can find of this (in multiple newspapers) has the story tied to that Swedish phallic thing that was in the news for most folks last week. Here’s what’s important for us: Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient Roman personal care set at Myra-Andriake in Antalya’s district of Demre, Turkey. [...]
Jade Figure from Viminacium?
Blic has the story … here’s the important bits: Director of Archaeological Park Viminacium, Miomir Korac, has said for Tanjug while major excavation was taking place at the Roman amphitheatre site at Viminacium, a sculpture made of jade and of excellent craftsmanship was discovered. “Only a few days ago we had the discovery of jade [...]
Romans in Wales
Wow … the archaeologist types in Wales keep coming up with discoveries. In the past week, I’ve read of three major finds … typically, things from Wales don’t seem to make it beyond the local papers, but the first two items are a bit different. Here’s the Telegraph coverage about a Roman villa find in [...]
