– Terrestrial Archaeology and Solar System History – News Headlines Archive – June 2010 – new discoveries about ancient civilisation under ancient skies –

“An archaeological site in southeastern Europe has shown its metal. This ancient settlement contains the oldest securely dated evidence of copper making, from 7,000 years ago, and suggests that copper smelting may been invented in separate parts of Asia and Europe at that time rather than spreading from a single source.

The pair were joined by Serbian researchers, led by Dušan Šljivar of the National Museum Belgrade, and German scientists directed by Ernst Pernicka of the University of Tübingen.”

“Recent archeological excavations at Iran’s Alamut fortress have yielded food storage rooms and water reservoirs in the northwestern historical site. Archeologists found a number of storage rooms on the west side of the fortress, which show that residents of the site made good use of their rocky habitation.

‘The site’s largest water reservoir is 11.45m long, 4m wide and about 4m deep’, she explained saying that the residents collected rain and snow water in big cisterns and used it during summer.”

“Among Zahi Hawass’s ambitious plans to introduce specialised museums across the country is a proposed predynastic museum at Qena.

The museum is currently being built at an ideal location — a prominent five-feddan site overlooking the Nile. Mahmoud Mabrouk, head of the museums sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), which is overseeing the work, says it will represent a long period of history covering about 10,000 years.”

“Experts have used scientific dating techniques to verify the historical chronology of ancient Egypt. Radiocarbon dating was used to show that the chronology of Egypt’s Old, Middle and New Kingdoms is indeed accurate.

Radiocarbon dating of ancient Egyptian objects is nothing new. But this time, the scientists say, they were able to use a very precise statistical technique to actually verify the Egyptian history. ”

“A student from the Department of Archaeology of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, discovered ancient items in the Dieng Temple complex situated between Banjarnegara and Wonosobo, Central Java.

The items found during a research conducted on June 2-11, 2010, are considered earthenware produced by Chinese Dinasty of Tang around 9th century and Persian broken glasses.”

“The Archaeological French expedition has unearthed a number of important archaeological mosaic floors, pillars and inscriptions at the famous archaeological city of al-Andareen, 80 kms to the north east of Hama

He added that the expedition have unearthed a number of archaeological mosaic floors, pillars and inscriptions in the village of Tal Abdul-Aziz, adding that the Hama Antiquities Department will take all the required measures to preserve the finds due to their cultural and historical significance.”

“When they first detected traces of an 800-year-old wigwam on a bluff over the Patuxent River last year, archaeologists celebrated what they said was the oldest human structure yet found in Maryland.

Now, deeper excavation at the site – the front lawn of a modest rental house – is yielding details of much earlier settlement, extending its history back to at least 3,000 years ago.”

“Deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt’s ancient capital Alexandria lies a wealth of archaeological artifacts. It’s a treasure trove of 20,000 objects and counting, thousands of years old providing archaeologists the key to unlocking the mystery of ancient Egypt and its rulers.

The Romans scattered their belongings and their tomb has never been found. Archaeologists however have isolated three sites in Alexandria where they believe the tomb is located.”

“An ancient mystery unfolds scattered across Laos’s Xieng Khouang plain. Known as the Plain of Jars, this bizarre archaeological collection of thousands of giant stone jars made from sandstone, granite and calcified coral is often referred to as an ‘Asian version of Stonehenge.’

French archaeologist, Madeleine Colani, who was the person to ever explore the Plain of Jars, believed these megaliths were created by a civilization long passed into the mists of time and that they were used to store cremated remains and placed in a precise pattern that follows an ancient trade route.”

“Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that’s new to human history. To make preparations, authorities in Washington DC are holding a meeting: The Space Weather Enterprise Forum at the National Press Club on June 8th.

A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.”

“A colossus of an ancient Egyptian deity in Luxor, an Umayyad coin in Wadi Al-Natroun and the tomb of a 19th-Dynasty mayor of Memphis at Saqqara are the most recent discoveries in Egypt.

The date of the statue cannot be verified until the excavations are completed as further objects that can be dated more specifically might be discovered.

“A once-thriving 58,000-year-old ochre powder production site has just been discovered in South Africa. The discovery offers a glimpse of what early humans valued and used in their everyday lives.

Ochre is derived from naturally tinted clay that contains mineral oxides. In addition to coloring objects, it makes a compound adhesive when mixed with other ingredients, such as plant gum and animal fat.”

“Our love of seafood goes way back. Archaeologists have found crocodiles, turtles and fish were eaten by early humans almost 2 million years ago.

The discovery of such a diverse animal diet is important because early human brain size increased dramatically after two million years ago. ”

[In October 1900, Captain Dimitrious Kondos was leading a team of sponge divers near the the island of Antikythera off the coast of Greece. They noticed a shipwreck about 180 feet below the surface and began to investigate. Amongst the artifacts that they brought up was a coral-encrusted piece of metal that later archaeologists found was some sort of gear wheel.

In 2006 the journal “Nature” published a letter, and another paper about the mechanism was published in 2008, detailing the findings of Prof. Mike G. Edmunds of Cardiff University. Using high-resolution X-ray tomography to study the fragments of the anomalous Antikythera Mechanism, they found that it was in fact a bronze mechanical analog computer that could be used to calculate the astronomical positions and various cycles of the Moon – as seen from the Earth: – Ed]