Michelle Moran's Blog, page 99

Engraved Eggs Suggest Early Symbolism

by Michael Balter

What do Homo sapiens have that our hominid ancestors did not? Many researchers think that the capacity for symbolic behaviors—such as art and language—is the hallmark of our species. A team working in South Africa has now discovered what it thinks is some of the best early evidence for such symbolism: a cache of ostrich eggshells dated to about 60,000 years ago and etched with intricate geometric patterns.

Read the rest on Science Magazine.

Spell-covered burial chamber found in Egypt's Saqqara

CAIRO (Reuters) - Archaeologists have unearthed the intact sarcophagus of Egypt's Queen Behenu inside her 4,000-year-old burial chamber near her pyramid in Saqqara, chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass announced Wednesday.

Read the rest on Reuters.

Syria's Stonehenge: Neolithic stone circles, alignments and possible tombs discovered

For Dr. Robert Mason, an archaeologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, it all began with a walk last summer. Mason conducts work at the Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery, out in the Syrian Desert. Finds from the monastery, which is still in use today by monks, date mainly to the medieval period and include some beautiful frescoes.

Read the rest on The Independent.

Nail from Christ's crucifixion found?

The four-inch long nail is thought to be one of thousands used in crucifixions across the Roman empire.

Read the rest on The Telegraph.

New Agatha Christie mystery: Christie family trunk yields diamonds worth thousands

A battered old trunk bought for £100 at an Agatha Christie auction has revealed contents as mysterious as the woman to whom they once belonged.
Read the rest on BBC homes and Antiques.

Dynasty of Priestesses

By Eti Bonn-Muller

Evidence of a powerful female bloodline emerges from the Iron Age necropolis of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna on Crete

For a quarter century, Greek excavation director Nicholas Stampolidis and his dedicated team have been unearthing the untold stories of the people buried some 2,800 years ago in the necropolis of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna on Crete. Until now, the site has perhaps been best known for the tomb its excavators dubbed "A1K1," an assemblage of 141 cremated ind...

DNA Shows that KV55 Mummy Probably Not Akhenaten

by Kate Phizackerley

The paper Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family by Hawass al. (Journal of American Medicine, 2010 - JAMA. 2010;303(7):638-647), states that the mummy in KV55 is "probably" Akhenaten – hereafter "the JAMA paper". The media has accepted the attribution as affirmed fact, although the attribution has attracted considerable comment and debate with a number of writers questioning the forensic data. I believe, however, that the correct focus of dissent to the att...

Experts pin hopes on public to decipher 500-year-old English inscription discovered in church

Conservator Tom Beattie examines the lettering which was revealed after a 350-year-old monument was removed

What is believed to be the first ever example of English written in a British church has been discovered. Problem is, no-one can read it. The 500-year-old inscription was found on a wall in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, hidden behind a monument dedicated to an aristocrat.

Read the rest on the Daily Mail.

"Vampire of Venice" Unmasked: Plague Victim & Witch?

by Christine Dell'Amore

The finished re-creation of the "Vampire of Venice." Image courtesy National Geographic Television

A female "vampire" unearthed in a mass grave near Venice, Italy, may have been accused of wearing another evil hat: a witch's.

Read the rest on National Geographic.

Watch on TV: Vampire Forensics airs Saturday, February 27, at 7 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel.

Statue head of King Tut's grandfather found in Luxor

[image error] A picture released by Egypt's Antiquities Department on February 28, 2010 shows a 3,000 year-old red granite head of King Amenhotep III. Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a colossal statue head of the pharaoh whom DNA tests revealed last week was King Tutankhamun's grandfather, the government has said.

AFP - Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a colossal statue head of the pharaoh whom DNA tests revealed last week was King...