Stone Pages Archaeo News: May 2007 Archives

May 2007 index:

7 May 2007: Ancient burial site found in Kentucky; A burial site with the remains of at least 33 American Indians who probably lived around 3000 BCE has been unearthed at a construction site near Towhead Island (Kentucky, USA)....
: Climate changes caused the Neanderthal extinction?; Climate – and not modern humans – was the cause of the Neanderthal extinction in the Iberian Peninsula. Such is the conclusion of the University of Granada research group RNM...
: Study: prehistoric man had sex for fun; New research into Stone Age humans has argued that, far from having intercourse simply to reproduce, they had sex for fun. Various sex practices were widespread in primitive societies as...
: Modern Man, Neanderthals seen as kindred spirits; Researchers have long debated what happened when the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe met 'modern humans' arriving from Africa starting some 40,000 years ago. The end result was the disappearance of...
: 2500-year-old tomb discovered in China; Archaeologists have found a 2500-year-old tomb in eastern China containing 40 coffins. The number of coffins found in the tomb in east China's Jiangxi province is unusual for that period...
: American 'Woodhenge' raises interest in ritual past; During a remote-sensing survey of the Fort Ancient Earthworks in 2005, Jarrod Burks of Ohio Valley Archaeological Consultants discovered a circular pattern in the soil that stretched nearly 200 feet...
: Discovery of a henge halts M3 work in Ireland; The Irish Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has ordered that work be stopped on the highly controversial M3 motorway near Tara, Co Meath (Ireland), because of the discovery of...
: Elaborate stone tools found in Chinese site; Chinese archaeologists say they have uncovered strong evidence that Stone Age people in southern East Asia were at least as technologically advanced as their European cousins - challenging the long-standing...
: Language might have evolved from gestures; Researchers speculate about how prehuman species developed the capacity for complex language. One theory suggests that humans' apelike ancestors first communicated through gestures. Once the neural circuits for gesture-based language...
: 3,500 year-old artefacts unearthed in Vietnam; Stone tools and pottery that are believed to be over 3,500 years old have been unearthed in Van Don district, in the northern province of Quang Ninh (Vietnam). The 10...
20 May 2007: Archeologists descend on Orcadian earth-house; A three-week excavation is under way in Harray (Orkney, Scotland) after the discovery of an Iron Age earth-house during routine farm-work. The subterranean structure came to light while farrowing a...
: Ancient tool parts found at Maine site; An archaeological survey made necessary by an airport construction project has uncovered parts of ancient tools that are thought to date back 9,000 to 11,000 years. When an archaeologist pulled...
: Taiwanese stone coffins unearthed; Five stone coffins were unearthed at the Hsiang Lan prehistoric cultural site along the Taimali coast in Taitung, southeastern Taiwan, which archaeologists described as a significant archaeological discovery. The coffins,...
: Vietnamese mountains home to 4000-year-old opal mine; Archaeologists from the Ho Chi Minh City-based Archaeology Institute recently discovered what appears to be a 4,000-year old stone workshop in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong (Vietnam). Doctor...
: Ancient wooden anchor discovered in Turkey; The world's oldest wooden anchor was discovered during excavations in the Turkish port city of Urla, by researchers from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of...
: Prehistoric Iranian site discovered; Archeologists have succeeded in discovering a prehistoric site in the vicinity of Galabar reservoir in Zanjan province (Iran) behind the Galabar dam, which has already been flooded. "We started an...
: 20,000 Aboriginal artefacts found at Defence site; The discovery of thousands of Aboriginal artefacts has forced a construction company to alter the design of the new Defence headquarters complex at Bungendore (Australia). About 20,000 Indigenous tools from...
: Ancient carved stone exhibition an Whitby Museum; A fascinating new exhibition celebrates the discovery of a 5,000-year-old carved stone, which was unearthed after a devastating fire on Fylingdales Moor, near Whitby (North Yorkshire, England), and remains one...
: Chinese writing may be 8,000 years old; Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock carvings say they have evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of years older than previously thought. State media say researchers identified more than 2,000...
: Iron Age ditches discovered at Edinburgh Castle; Archaeologists have discovered traces of ancient remains at Edinburgh Castle (Scotland) during preparation work for the construction of a new visitor centre. Experts said borehole samples revealed debris dating from...
27 May 2007: Volunteers wanted for dig in England; Keen historians are being invited to help a team of Exeter University archaeologists uncover secrets of an ancient Bronze Age site. The team have worked at the site, in Stokenham,...
: Old Norwegian shoe turns out to be even older; An old leather shoe discovered in the Jotunheimen Mountains (Nrway), and first estimated to be around 1000 years old, turns out to be more than 3,000 years old. The shoe...
: A new Clovis-age impact theory; Did a comet hit the Great Lakes region (North America) and fragment human populations 12,900 years ago? A 26-member team of researchers is proposing a startling new theory: that an...
: Turkmenistan: a cradle of civilization?; Standing amid sand and rock at the edge of the Karakum desert, it is hard to imagine that a rich civilization once thrived at the Gonur-depe historical site in eastern...
: Bosnia archaeologists fight looters; Archaeologist Snjezana Vasilj has won her battle with the forms that go with Bosnian bureaucracy, securing the research grant needed to continue her own treasure hunt. Vasilj and her small...
: Bronze Age urn discovered in Ireland; An exciting archaeological find dating to c.1700 BCE was unearthed by an archaeologist, Orla Scully during test excavations on the Airport Road Realignment (R708) near Waterford (Ireland). The find comprises...
: The lost stone circle at Winterbourne Bassett; A lunchtime talk will be held at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum on Wednesday, 12 September, 2007. The illustrated talk by Jim Gunter, Trustee and Chair of the Society's Archaeology Field...
: How 'bling' began 4,000 years ago; Scottish schoolchildren are to learn that the modern fashion for 'bling' (a hip hop slang term which refers to elaborate jewelry and other accoutrement) has its roots in the Bronze...
: Ancient Welsh standing stone needs repairs; An ancient Welsh stone that has stood as a warning to against bad behavior for centuries is in need of repair to ensure its survival. The large prehistoric standing stone...
: Excavation resumes on a barrow in Wiltshire; The search for a Bronze Age man at a burial site in Sutton (Wiltshire, England) has resumed. Last December a group of amateur archaeologists have unearthed some historically important finds...
: Virtual explorations of the ancient Ohio Valley; Kathy Choi touches a kiosk screen, then looks up at a larger wall screen to see digitally created yellowish-brown mounds snaking through bright green grassland dotted with brilliant blue rivers...