Pasquale Barile
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Prehistory
‘Missing link’ in human history confirmed after long debate
Early humans were still swinging from trees two million years ago, scientists have said, after confirming a set of contentious fossils represents a "missing link" in humanity's family tree.
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Biblical Archaeology
The hunt for ancient Dead Sea Scrolls is back on
In the cliffs high above the Dead Sea archaeologists chip away with pick axes, hoping to repeat one of the most sensational discoveries of the last hundred years – the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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Africa
Fragment of Black granite statue of King Amenhotep III discovered in Sohag parking lot
The Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery of an artifact in a parking lot in Akhmim, Sohag governorate, during a drilling operation to develop the site. The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the archaeological committee, which was formed under the chairmanship of Gamal Abdel Nasser, confirmed that the piece found in the parking is an official historical…
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Prehistory
Stone age hunter-gatherers’ ‘paradise’ discovered next to major Israeli road
Israeli archaeologists have uncovered next to one of the country’s busiest roads the site of an extraordinarily well preserved prehistoric “paradise” used by stone age hunter-gatherers over half a million years ago, who left behind evidence of hundreds of knapped flint hand-axes. The discovery at about a five-metre depth at Jaljulia, near the town of Kfar Saba, suggests that an…
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Americas
Depiction of mythical Aztec universe discovered in natural pond near Mexico’s Iztaccihuatl volcano
A team of archaeologists in Mexico have discovered a stone shrine in a pond that depicts the design of the universe, as imagined by ancient Aztec civilisations. The stone “tetzacualco” or sanctuary was found at Nahualac, a site at the foothills of the Iztaccihuatl volcano. According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), along with the stone shrine,…
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Stop the Heritage Drain
Ancient egyptian mummy’s skull and dismembered hands to be returned to Egypt 90 years after being taken to the U.S.
The long-lost remains of an Egyptian mummy, stolen from a tomb and smuggled to the United States, is to be returned home after more than 90 years. The skull and two dismembered hands are to be returned to Egypt following an intervention by U.S. investigators, who prevented an American dealer from selling the contraband to a buyer in Manhattan. A spokesman for…
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Europe
Scan technique reveals secret writing in mummy cases
These are the decorated boxes into which the wrapped body of the deceased was placed before it was put in a tomb. They are made from scraps of papyrus which were used by ancient Egyptians for shopping lists or tax returns. The technology is giving historians a new insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphics found on the…
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Prehistory
Ancient cave in China filled with 45,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones, new excavation reveals
Archaeologists have recovered thousands of artifacts from a cave in Xinjiang (an autonomous region of northern China) including stone tools, bronze and iron artifacts and animal fossils. Some date as far back as the Paleolithic Age, making them roughly 45,000 years old, according to the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Around 2,000 artifacts were unearthed at the…
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Prehistory
In the Bones of a Buried Child, Signs of a Massive Human Migration to the Americas
The girl was just six weeks old when she died. Her body was buried on a bed of antler points and red ocher, and she lay undisturbed for 11,500 years. Archaeologists discovered her in an ancient burial pit in Alaska in 2010, and on Wednesday an international team of scientists reported they had retrieved the child’s genome from her remains.…
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Biblical Archaeology
Governor of Jerusalem’s Seal Impression From First Temple Era Found Near Western Wall
A fantastically preserved seal impression made by the biblical Governor of Jerusalem during the First Temple era has been found by archaeologists where it fell 2,700 years ago. Many dozens of seal impressions and seals themselves have been found in ancient Jerusalem, including in this area by the Temple Mount. Also, several seal impressions of the Jerusalem governor (“sar ha’ir”),…
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