Aqua Traiana in Peril?
Back in January/February we featured a series of posts highlighting the discovery of the source of the Aqua Traiana: Source of the Aqua Traiana Found? More on the Aqua Traiana (BBC video) Still More on the Aqua Traiana (more video plus infrom from the O’Neills) … a spectacular find, of course, and the last we had heard, the [...]
Etruscan House from Grosseto: Followup
We’re getting a few more details on that Etruscan house find at Grosseto which we mentioned last week … here’s an excerpt from ANSA’s coverage: Following an initial excavation of two weeks, the archaeological team revealed details of the earliest discoveries. The building’s walls were made of blocks of dried clay, the first ever example [...]
File This One Away for Future Reference
An excerpt from a feature on Zahi Hawass in Speigel … I don’t think comment is necessary …. Hawass reserves the right to announce all discoveries himself. Not everyone likes this. Some people feel that he is about as interested in serious research as Rapunzel was in having her hair cut. He boasted that there [...]
Greek ‘Stone Crown’ from Syria
This one’s kind of confusing for me … from the Global Arab Network: Remarkable archaeological finds from the Greek and Roman eras have been found in different archaeological sites in Deir Ezzor Province during current excavation season. A Greek stone crown, the first of its kind in the region, was discovered by the Syrian-French mission [...]
Etruscan House from Grosseto
Not sure if this is the one mentioned by Francesca Tronchin on Twitter (if so, tip o’ the pileus!): An ancient Etruscan home dating back more than 2,400 years has been discovered outside Grosseto in central Italy. Hailed as an exceptional find, the luxury home was uncovered at an archeological site at Vetulonia, 200 kilometres [...]
That Shipwreck Full of Lead
A while ago we mentioned that lead recovered from a Roman shipwreck was going to be used to help in neutrino research. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was more interested in the shipwreck than the lead, so I’m happy to share this very interesting video/slideshow thingy by Rossella Lorenzi of Discovery News [...]
Purloined Kouroi Recovered
Kouros-style marble statues, dated to the 6th century BC, are displayed on Tuesday at the National Archaeological Museum in central Athens. The priceless artifacts were recovered by authorities three days ago during a sting operation in the Corinth prefecture of southern Greece, and specifically near the village of Klenia, which is located in vicinity of [...]
Clay Sarcophagi from Protaras
Oh, those clumsy work crews: Work crews in Cyprus have accidentally unearthed four rare clay coffins estimated to be some 2,000 years old, the country’s Antiquities Department director said Wednesday. Maria Hadjicosti said the coffins adorned with floral patterns date from the east Mediterranean island’s Hellenistic to early Roman periods, between 300 B.C. and 100 [...]
Ancient Greek ‘Austerity’
Image via Wikipedia In the wake of all that Greek ‘stuff’ that’s been happening comes an interesting item on a Greek precedent for ‘austerity’: Ancient Greeks at the end of the 4th century BC apparently went through a period of austerity and curtailment of wasteful spending similar to that Greece is facing today, according to [...]
Survey in the Wake of Floods in West Cumbria
Image via Wikipedia Roman finds uncovered by the floods of last November have excited archaeologists – and are set for a major investigation. The remains of a Roman fort at Papcastle have been open for several years, but nobody has ever known the shape of local roads, the size of the civilian settlement attached to [...]
“Rude” Roman Pots?
One that was lost in t shuffle last week: WORK on the £11.6 million revamp of Canterbury’s prestigious Beaney Institute has ground to a halt – because of Roman pornography. Archaeologists are racing against time to recover lost evidence beneath the city’s streets before the builders return. Among the artefacts already uncovered are saucy carvings [...]
Sinclair Bell on Chariot Fans
Image via Wikipedia Here’s another one from the Toledo Museum of Art … here’s the official description of an interesting talk on the fanaticism of fans ar Roman chariot races: Dr. Sinclair Bell, Professor in the Department of Art History at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, presented his program “Fans and Fame in the Roman [...]
Roman Family Tomb from Syria
Not quite enough details in this one for my liking: Idleb Antiquities Department has unearthed a Roman-era cemetery dating back to the 3rd century AD in al-Massasia Valley, north of Darkoush town, in the northern Province of Idleb (Northern Syria). Head of the Syrian Archaeological Excavations Department Musstafa Kaddour said that the cemetery consists of [...]
Protecting a Greek Shipwreck
Very interesting item buried in my email from last week: The second century Greek trading vessel lies on the sea bed off the coast of Cavtat. Little remains of the wooden ship but its cargo of earthenware amphora – ceramic vases – still remain stacked row upon row. The vases, which originally contained olive oil [...]
Roman Temple in Southwell (Iterum)
This one seems to be making the rounds again: Remains unearthed in Nottinghamshire could be an unknown Roman temple, archaeologists have claimed. Excavations on the Minster C of E School site in Southwell between September 2008 and May 2009 revealed walls, ditches and ornate stones. The team analysing the finds said the shape and quality [...]
