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

“A clay figure believed to be 13,000 years old and one of the oldest in the country, was found in an archaeological site in Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture, the Shiga Prefectural Association for Cultural Heritage said.

The tiny figure, 3.1 centimeters in height and 14.6 grams in weight, depicts a female torso with breasts and a waistline.”

“Archeological teams unearthed 93 tombs from China’s Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty at the Zhangduo Ruins in Neiqiu of Xingtai, Hebei. (The Warring States period covers the period from 475 B.C. to the unification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C.).

Funerary objects unearthed totaled more than 260 pieces, including spade-shaped coins, bronze belt hooks, brass bells, tripods, clay workshops, jars, pots, cups and bowls.”

“Plunging into the waters off Alexandria Tuesday, divers explored the submerged ruins of a palace and temple complex from which Cleopatra ruled, swimming over heaps of limestone blocks hammered into the sea by earthquakes and tsunamis more than 1,600 years ago.

Using advanced technology, the team is surveying ancient Alexandria’s Royal Quarters, encased deep below the harbor sediment, and confirming the accuracy of descriptions of the city left by Greek geographers and historians more than 2,000 years ago.”

“Archaeologists are studying prehistoric rock drawings discovered in a remote cave in 2002, including dancing figures and strange headless beasts, as they seek new clues about the rise of Egyptian civilisation.

Rudolph Kuper, a German archaeologist, said the detail depicted in the ‘Cave of the Beasts’ indicate the site is at least 8 000 years old, likely the work of hunter-gatherers whose descendants may have been among the early settlers of the then-swampy and inhospitable Nile Valley.”

“For some families tomb raiding became a business, earning the equivalent of a year’s salary for one night’s digging.

The Antiquities Department believe the tomb, which lies directly under the surface of the path, dates to either the Roman or Hellenistic period.”

“Ancient copper furnaces recently unearthed at an archaeological site in Dong Anh, in the north of Ha Noi, have shed important light on the Metal Age, according to archaeologists.

Archaeologists believe the furnaces were aligned like this so that they would catch the wind.”

“A massive, headless statue of a Greek king has been found in the ruins of an ancient Egyptian temple, adding to evidence that the structure could be the final resting place of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, excavation leaders say.

The newfound black granite statue—which stands about 6 feet (1.8 meters) without its head—is thought to be of King Ptolemy IV, because a cartouche carved of the same stone and bearing his name was found near the figure’s base.”

“Thousands of animal fossils, many of them representing species never seen before, have been unearthed in Morocco by Yale scientists Peter Van Roy and Derek Briggs, it was announced last week.

Researchers say that what makes this discovery significant is that many of the fossils represent soft-bodied species, which don’t often show up in the fossil record.”

[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]

“A new archaeological mapping technology has made a breakthrough in the dense forests of Caracol, Belize, effectively capturing images of an ancient Mayan city in just four days, a task which previously would have taken 25 years.

3D imaging of archaeological sites has improved dramatically over the last few years, but the technology has always been limited by how dense the vegetation is surrounding the site. Imaging radar and multispectral surveys taken either from aircraft or from NASA satellites are limited in their abilities in much of Central America because of the impenetrable canopy of the rain forest. ”

“After a rough ride through narrow desert washes, Alfredo Figueroa came to a clearing and ordered the vehicles to halt.

Archaeologists have long debated the geoglyphs’ origins and age. Those near the Colorado River are thought to be perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 years old, while others may be closer to 12,000.”

“Archaeologists in Egypt believe they have discovered the burial place of Cleopatra and her lover, Mark Anthony.

An Egyptian-Dominican team made the discovery at the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of the coastal city of Alexandria.”

“A freelance Indian archeologist has discovered an engraved megalith menhir on an open field about 100 kilometers from the southeastern city of Guntur.

Menhirs are remnants of the prehistoric megalithic civilization, when people used signs to communicate.”

“Two tiny meteorites that fell to Antarctica some fifty years ago could reveal secrets about the origins of our Solar System, scientists say. Uncovered in the central part of Antarctica, the two tiny meteorites appear to have come from ancient comets.

The researchers think the fragments they found likely first originated in the solar system before the planets were even formed, when the sun had only a ‘protoplanetary disk’ of material that would later clump into planets.”

“Housed in the temporary exhibition space in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre, Méroé, un empire sur le Nil is a smallish exhibition that might seem almost overawed by its magnificent surroundings.

Several hundred years later, the first- century CE Greek geographer Strabo wrote of Roman attempts to subdue Meroe shortly after Egypt became a Roman province on the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE.”

“A water feature found in the Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the new world, according to a collaboration between two Penn State researchers, an archaeologist and a hydrologist. How the Maya used the pressurized water is, however, still unknown.

The area of Palenque was first occupied about the year 100 but grew to its largest during the Classic Maya period 250 to 600. The city was abandoned around 800.

“Archaeologists working on the wreck of a 400-year-old merchant vessel off south China have found evidence that Chinese merchants probably flouted bans on foreign trade at the time.

The salvage team has recovered more than 800 pieces of antique porcelain and copper coins from the ancient ship off the coast of Guangdong province, said the provincial cultural relics bureau Sunday. Archaeologists believe the ship, which sank in the Sandianjin waters off Nan’ao county, Shantou city, may have been carrying 10,000 pieces of blue-and-white porcelain, mostly made during Emperor Wanli’s reign (1573-1620) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

[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]