Newsdesk Archive

Scientists have found a series of vents in the Nordic Seas that may have burped enough methane to cause massive global warming 55 million years ago. The early Eocene Period witnessed a dramatic increase in temperature, which was triggered by a sudden surge of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The looting of ancient Iraqi artefacts is the crime of the century, the director general of the Customs Department, Mahmoud Qteishat, said on Tuesday. In a speech at the opening of a two-day symposium in Amman, which is devoted to curbing the smuggling of Iraq's looted treasures, Qteishat called for closer cooperation among countries around Iraq to catch the thieves and smugglers. The symposium is hosted by the government and Interpol, which is based in Lyon, France, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

A project is underway to map the early settlement sites of Aborigines in far west New South Wales. The Environment Department says the study is looking at where NSW's Indigenous population was originally located, before many were relocated as part of the Stolen Generations.

A recent series of lectures on ancient Egyptian humor given by a leading historian reveals that people thousands of years ago enjoyed bawdy jokes, political satire, parodies and cartoon-like art. Related evidence found in texts, sketches, paintings, and even in temples and tombs, suggests that humor provided a social outlet and comic relief for the ancient Egyptians, particularly commoners who labored in the working classes.

The helmet was made of a single piece of bronze, 27 centuries ago, heated and hammered and annealed by a technique used as late as the Florentine renaissance but now lost for ever. It was forged from an alloy of copper and tin, with traces of lead and iron.

Just as excitement at the prospect of a successful British Mars landing with the Beagle 2 probe fades into distant memory, the UK may have found a new outer space pioneer to cheer on. The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn is often billed as a joint venture between the US, European and Italian space agencies. But the spacecraft has been assembled with extensive input from UK scientists and companies.

BEIRUT: If archaeologist Ibrahim Noureddine is right, sunbathers at Byblos' beaches may one day find themselves next to a Phoenician port. The underwater archaeologist is currently working on his doctorate about ancient ports, trying to figure out whether people in the Bronze Age built their harbors or used the natural foundation. It is not an easy task, as Noureddine does not even know for sure yet where to dig for the old harbors.

WARSAW - Hoping to find a Torah and other invaluable Jewish religious artifacts, Polish archaeologists began excavations on the foundations of a synagogue in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim, the location of the World War II Nazi death camp Auschwitz, the Polish PAP news agency reported Monday. Once called Oswiecim's "Great Synagogue," the house of worship was burned to the ground in 1939 by Nazi forces invading Poland

TEHRAN (CHN) -- Iranian experts are scratching their head over an old monument in west of the country as whether it was built as a fire temple in the Sassanid era or it was erected in the Islamic period. Located in the western Iranian town of Qasr-e Shirin, the Chahar Qapi or Chahar Taqi monument as well as its other monuments such as the Khosrow Palace, Ban Qaleh and the Safavid caravanserai suffered damages during the eight year Iraqi aggression. In 1998, a year after the end of the war when construction of war torn areas were undertaken, a group of history and archeology experts were dispatched to take care of the historical monuments in the area.

Wichita archaeologist Jim Dougherty is on a treasure hunt. This treasure is information, not gold or silver. The information is about the Hopewell people who lived from eastern Kansas into Illinois and Ohio from approximately 50 B.C. to 500 A.D. Dougherty hopes to learn more about how far into Kansas these prehistoric people got by studying the artifacts they left behind. The Hopewell culture is best known for the earth mounds along the Ohio River, but evidence of their passage has been known from eastern Kansas for decades.

Looted antiquities pulled from archaeological sites in Afghanistan would be kept off the U.S. market under legislation sought by a Western Pennsylvania congressman. U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-Erie, said yesterday he plans to introduce legislation that would impose an emergency five-year ban on the importation of "cultural property" from Afghanistan. The legislation includes a list of items missing from various museums throughout Afghanistan as well as archaeological sites that have been looted or destroyed.

She was a fashionable young woman of her time. Wealthy and sophisticated, with a bracelet on one arm and rings, she was buried close to the Kremlin -- where she lay entombed for about 850 years. The young woman is among 40 human remains, a centuries-old sword, a rare Peter the Great coin and hundreds of other artifacts unearthed recently beneath the Central Manezh Exhibition Hall. The opportunity to dig under the prime site so close to the Kremlin was a dream come true for the Moscow archaeological world. Permission came after the 19th-century building was gutted in a blaze on March 14 and, with City Hall promising to restore it by September, speed was essential. Practically every archaeologist in the city took part in the dig, with three shifts running 24 hours a day at the site in March and April.

NANCHANG, May 31 (Xinhuanet) -- A 1,300-year-old cliff carving was recently found at a temple at Mount Lushan in east China's Jiangxi Province. This was the oldest cliff carving ever spotted at Mount Lushan,a world cultural heritage site, and the only carving dating back from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a Chinese archaeologist said. It was discovered in an ancient temple on the northern part of the scenic mountain during a recent cultural relics survey in the region. The obverse side of the object was engraved with three big Chinese characters "Haihui Temple", the original name of the ancient temple, plus the title of the reign of Empress Wu Zetian during the Tang dynasty, which was 1,309 years ago.

When Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, he piloted one of history's most storied ships, the Santa Maria. Yet when the great mariner returned in glory to Spain in 1493, he had left behind his flagship and more than a third of his men.

KABUL (Reuters) - The world could soon catch a glimpse of Afghanistan's fabled Bactrian gold, as preparations get under way to exhibit some of the 20,000 or so pieces that make up the country's most important ancient treasure trove. Dates and locations have yet to be finalized but the United States, France, Germany, Japan and Greece, are among countries interested in hosting the 2,000-year-old haul that has miraculously remained intact despite years of war and upheaval.

The largest excavation of a Viking burial site in 50 years is underway at a farm in Vestfold, south of Oslo. Archaeologists already started finding ship nails last week, and chances are good more Viking treasures are about to be revealed. This aerial view shows the burial sites, including contures of a ship at far left.

Mozambican archaeologists argue that the recent sale in Holland of items salvaged from a Portuguese shipwreck in Mozambican waters was illegal, and that the country's archaeological heritage should remain in Mozambique, reports Friday's issue of the independent newsheet, "Mediafax". The Portuguese galleon sunk in the 17th century near Mozambique Island, off the coast of the northern province of Nampula. 117 Chinese porcelain objects from the Ming dynasty, and 21 gold objects, recovered from the shipwreck, were auctioned by the respected auctioneers Christies in Amsterdam on 19 May, and fetched a price of 117,000 euros (about 140,000 US dollars). The sale took place under the terms of a 1999 contract of dubious legality between the Mozambican government and the companies PI (Patrionio Internacional - International Heritage - which is 80 per cent state owned), and Arqueonautos Worldwide, which is a Portuguese company specialising in underwater archaeology.

Campaigners gathered at Silbury Hill, at Avebury, on Saturday, four years after the summit collapsed, to air their concerns over its future. Heritage Action, a group dedicated to the care of threatened and neglected prehistoric sites, believe urgent action is needed to prevent further damage. The group wants English Heritage, which manages the site, to take heed of its rallying cry ­ fix the hill.

An archaeological survey in central Utah has yielded a "wickiup" -- a temporary log and brush hut commonly used by ancient inhabitants on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. The Carbon County find is helping scholars learn more about people who occupied Utah about 9,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. Utah State University archaeologists discovered the wickiup on state school trust lands being sold to the Hunt Oil Co., which plans to preserve the hut at its location. Hunt Oil owns the Preston Nutter Ranch, which borders the wickiup camp. "Hunt Oil is pleased to join with trust lands in following the appropriate protocol to preserve significant cultural sites such as this," said Thomas E. Muerer of Hunt Oil.

A cloud of sulphate particles may have blocked out the sun's warmth Evidence has been found for a global winter following the asteroid impact that is thought to have killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Rocks in Tunisia reveal microscopic cold-water creatures invaded a warm sea just after the space rock struck Earth. The global winter was probably caused by a pollutant cloud of sulphate particles released when the asteroid vapourised rocks at Chicxulub, Mexico.

Dr.Robert Lomas will be appearing at the Mysteries forum for an online discussion for the next four weeks. Robert will be here to discuss his latest book 'The Invisible College'. Watch for further new regarding his appearance at the Mysteries forum.

An urn containing a human skull and bones unearthed by the Archaeological Survey of India at Adhichanallur, near Tirunelveli town in Tamil Nadu. Twelve of these urns (below) contain human skeletons. Three of them, which may be 2,800 years old, bear inscriptions that resemble the early Tamil Brahmi script.

New archaelogical findings may re-shape Sudanese history Khartoum, Sudan, 05/03 - Historians may have to revise their previous beliefs about the history of the Nile River valley and human history following the recent discovery of seven statues in Karma, northern Sudan, south of the Third Cataract, which represented monarchs during the ancient Nubian Kingdom. In a recent report, Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported that a group of archaeologists working in the Sudan discovered the statues. These researchers established that five of them, namely Taharqa, Tanoutamon, Senkamanisken, Anlamani and Aspelta, date back to the era of Nubian Kings.

THE religious phenomenon that has engulfed a small Catholic church in southwest Brisbane has inspired a statue-buying frenzy. The store that supplied the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre at Inala with its weeping statue of Mary has been cleaned out of stock this week. The Christian Supplies store in Elizabeth St, Brisbane City, has sold more than 120 statues of the Miraculous Our Lady and tens of kilograms of rosary prayer beads to devout Vietnamese Catholics. The rush for religious ornaments comes after statues at the Inala church exuded a rose-scented oil a week ago. Many believers have left their statues in the church in the hope that they might become blessed.

Israeli researchers have pushed back the date at which humans harnessed fire by half a million years. Are they right? Steve Connor investigates

ROCKTON -- About 400 years ago, before Europeans began settling North America, a native hunter sat and cleaned his latest kill where the Pecatonica and Rock rivers merge. The hunter used a prehistoric pocketknife of sorts, fashioned from a deer antler, to scrape the flesh from a bear, elk or other animal that was common to the area now known as Rockton. Fast-forward to fall 2003. Archaeologists and students discovered the hunting tool buried deep within the soil of the Macktown settlement, home of what is believed to be Winnebago County's first white settler.

(AGI) - Rome, Italy, 25 May - The "Archeomar" project has started, which is a census project for the total of archaeological goods submerged in four southern regions, Campania, Basilicata, Apulia and Calabria. The initiative, which began 1 April and will last until October 2005, was presented to the Roman National Museum in the presence of Minister Urbani, on the occasion of the week of culture. The project, for which 7.5 million euro has been invested, will create an important instrument of knowledge of the archaeological wealth submerged in deep in the southern seas, with the aim of knowing archaeological treasures, which have never been heard of and to protect and control goods entombed in the coastal waters of four of the regions most at risk in this field.

A fragment of a Roman sarcophagus is being returned to Syria thanks to the efforts of experts on Tyneside. The decorated fragment, which was brought into Newcastle University by a city resident, dates between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. Months of detective work led experts to the island city of Aradus on the Ile d'Arwad, off the coast of Syria.

XI'AN, May 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A large-scale tomb group of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century B.C.- 771 B.C.) was discovered at the Zhougong Temple site in Qishan County in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Chinese archaeologists said Tuesday. The tombs are of the highest standard of the Western Zhou Dynasty ever discovered in China, they said. "Judging from the scale of the tombs, the owner might be somebody of high rank, a duke, a prince, or even a king of the Western Zhou Dynasty," said Lei Xingshan, associate professor withthe School of Archaeology and Museology at Beijing University, whoparticipated in the archaeological excavation at the Zhougong Temple site.

Construction workers at Humberside Airport have discovered the skeletons of five people dating back to Roman times. The remains of four adults and a teenager were found in what was believed to be a burial ground while work was carried out on a new taxiway at the Kirmington site. They are at least 1,700 years old and were lying east to west, which suggests they were Christians. One body was lying face down. Archaeologists carried out an excavation and the remains have been taken to Lincoln, where they will be cleaned up and examined by experts from Lincoln-based Preconstruct Archaeology.

The mystery of Jane McCrea and Sara McNeil, whose involvement in the Revolutionary War became legend, is closer to being solved. DNA tests have confirmed that McNeil is buried in a grave that may also contain McCrea's remains. Archaeologist David Starbuck and a team of forensic experts dug up McCrea's Union Cemetery plot in Fort Edward last April at the request of a descendant who wanted to determine how she had died. Stories of her gruesome murder by gunshot or scalping by Indians allied with the British became a rebel propaganda tool and rallying cry in 1777.

A PLAN to reshape the centre of Belfast for the future has led to the biggest dig exploring the city's past. Archaeologists have peeled back at least four centuries of urban history as they work ahead of builders in Victoria Square - turning up evidence suggesting why the city grew where it did. And they appear to have found new evidence of the medieval settlement on the site. which will host a £300m development. One of the largest discoveries so far is the remains of a lost bridge which spanned a river that is no longer there.

Cambridge, MA, May. 27 (UPI) -- Researchers from Harvard University have discovered a previously unidentified microbial community inside the porous stone of the Maya ruins in Mexico. The microbes might be capable of causing rapid deterioration of these sites, researchers said.

Europe's comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta has successfully completed its first scientific task: observation of Comet C/2002 T7, or Comet Linear. Rosetta took detailed images of the comet and made scientific measurements from a distance of about 95 million km. It even managed to detect the presence of water molecules in the tenuous atmosphere around Comet Linear.

Though their tans, as displayed in the latest Hollywood blockbuster of that ancient city's name, would not have lasted too long after they pitched up near the River Dart in Devon. The story goes that a warrior leader named Brutus, of royal Trojan lineage, set sail for Albion, as Britain was then called, with his men - known as Britons - after being shunned back home. They reportedly founded a city on the Thames and called it Troia Newydd, or New Troy. The word London came much later, perhaps from Lud's Town.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A family trying to add a room to their home in southern Indiana discovered bones and Native American artifacts that could be more than 2,000 years old, Evansville television station WFIE has reported. Contractors started digging Thursday to build the home addition in Spencer County. By Saturday, bones, stone artifacts and a piece of a skull had been found, WFIE reported Saturday.

TEHRAN (CHN) -- An international conference is set to take stock of the archeological findings in northwestern Iran in June, the secretary of the gathering announced. Hamid Fahimi said the three day conference would discuss archeological findings made in northwestern Iran, including the provinces of West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan. "Exploring the archeological relationship between northwestern Iran and other cultural areas in Iran and neighboring lands is another focus of the conference," Fahimi noted.

Asukamura, Nara Prefecture, world-famous for its precious archeological remains and natural landscape, is considering plans to become an open-air museum. This month's Power of Tourism looks at the village's efforts and problems. Dig a hole anywhere in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture, and there is a good chance you will find archeological remains. And this is no exaggeration, as the village was home to Japan's early Imperial capital from the late 6th century to the early 8th century.

The face of a man murdered 1,700 years ago in Cumbria has been reconstructed for a museum exhibition. The skull, which had a hole caused by a weapon, was discovered during building work at The Lanes shopping centre, in Carlisle. The city's Tullie House museum was awarded funding from the Local Heritage Initiative to reconstruct his face and it goes on display on Wednesday.

Volcanic eruptions in Iceland probably caused an unusual rise in deaths in England during the summer of 1783. UK experts suggest a cloud of volcanic gases and particles sweeping south from the Laki Craters event of that year may have killed more than 10,000 people. The team combed climate data, burial records and contemporary accounts that reported a "volcanic haze" and health problems in the English population.

'Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith' released on 27 May 2004 and co-authored by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval is their latest book involving several years of research. Comprehensive details and a range of articles, especially of interest to those who have not yet read the book, can be found at www.talismanthebook.com and it's associated Bulletin Board. Join us at the new Talisman message board for discussion of any aspect of the book. (Follow the link to the 'Talisman the book' site.

"Preliminary evaluation certainly identified at least two human burials, also evidence of prehistoric fire pits, and some prehistoric stone artifacts," says Mohow. "It seems likely they're prehistoric Native Americans 2,000-years-old or older. We have a site here that offers greater information on pre-history than the average site. As a matter of fact, significantly greater information than the average site."

A team of archeological experts from Orissa say their recent findings at the Kapileshwar village may help establish the small hamlet as the birthplace of Lord Buddha, instead of Lumbini, in Nepal. Officials at the Orissa State Museum, which conducted the excavation, said that the new findings, which included artefacts dating back to 6th century BC, supported the claims of Kapileshwar being Lord Buddha's birthplace. Buddhism was founded in India, when Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, attained supreme enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya in 6th century B.C.

University of Southampton archaeologists Professor David Peacock and Dr Lucy Blue have just returned from a pioneering expedition investigating Roman sites in the East African country of Eritrea alongside colleagues from the University of Asmara. The University group is the first from the UK to work in the country since it won its independence more than a decade ago. They are already planning to return to this remote area on the shores of the Red Sea, previously part of Ethiopia. Investigations centre on the ancient settlement of Adulis, which was known in Roman times as a fair sized settlement and mentioned in ancient chronicles as a key port in trade with India. The researchers also believe they have found the site of the 6th century harbour of Adulis, known as Gabaza and a mausoleum called Samidi, both hitherto only known from documentary sources.

Clues about the culture of the Yemassee Indian tribe that settled several towns in colonial Carolina may lie beneath the packed sand of a parcel of land Beaufort County hopes to purchase for preservation. County officials voted to purchase a 100-acre parcel this month from the LandPlan Partnership, a company developing luxury homes on the 615-acre property. The Trust for Public Land, the nonprofit organization that manages Beaufort County's $40 million land-buying program, plans to purchase and conveyed to the county this summer, officials said.

The wreck of the Titanic is being slowly destroyed by tour operators, film crews and trophy hunters who have stripped more than 6,000 objects from the ship since it was discovered on the Atlantic seabed in 1985. Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, said that a "circus" has developed around the shipwreck over the past 20 years despite it being the last resting place of the people who drowned when it struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912.

The Roman Empire has been well documented. Over the years written history and archaeology have brought to the surface, sometimes literally unearthed, a whole society. Thus Roman architecture, religion, military strategy and legal structures hold little mystery. Compared to this depth of knowledge, many of those living outside the boundaries of the Empire are lost in time. But now an archaeological excavation in the north of the Netherlands had begun to tell the story of the Roman's neighbours.

A shower of hot gas from a distant star-forming galaxy has opened up a window into the violent life of the early universe for scientists. The rapid-fire star birth in galaxy M82 was triggered by a collision with another galaxy. The tremendous activity fueled a "cosmic hurricane" traveling at more than a million miles an hour [447 kilometers per second] into intergalactic space, said Linda Smith of the University College London.

Builders working on an Oxfordshire highway have uncovered 1,000-year-old ruins built by a Norman adventurer. Workmen found part of a Norman causeway and arches under Abingdon Road and archaeologists were called in. The road has now reopened after six weeks and it is hoped the ruins will go on show to the public.

CUZCO, Peru · It was just a sparkle on the horizon, where the sun hit what appeared to be a flat plain on an otherwise steep, untamed mountain in the Peruvian Andes. But Peter Frost, a British-born explorer and mountain guide, surmised that the perch would have made a perfect ceremonial platform for Incan rulers...

SINJ, Croatia (AFP) - In search of clues they believe could cast light on 10,000 years of Balkans history, archaeologists working in a key wetland along the Cetina river in southern Croatia have modernized their approach, switching shovels for a georadar. Children ran in awe around the cart with the georadar as it circled around a village playground pulled by a small four-wheeler. Several meters (feet) beneath the concrete the radar found remains of a medieval church. "This is the first time that we have access to such sophisticated peace of equipment. It will revolutionize how we can do this sort of work, as we can now do in days what used to take us months before," Vincent Gaffney, director of the University of Birmingham Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, told AFP.

The European Space Agency says poor management must share some blame for the failure of the Beagle 2 mission. Contact with the Mars probe was lost last December and it is unknown whether the UK-built lander ever made it down to the surface of the Red Planet. The official inquiry into the loss said there was too little investment at the start of the £50m Beagle project. But Professor David Southwood, Esa's director of science, said the project overall was not under-funded.

Findings unearthed at the ancient city of Bethsaida near the Sea of Galilee - where Jesus and his apostles ostensibly lived, and where the grand capital of a First Temple period kingdom was located - have excited tremendous attention all over the world for 17 years. Everywhere, that is, except in Israel. The Polish priest stood opposite archaeologist Prof. Rami Arav at the heart of the excavation site of the ancient city of Bethsaida, on the north shore of Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee). It was the summer of 2000, recalls Arav, director of the dig.

It's the world's oldest and largest jigsaw puzzle - an ancient map of Rome in 1,200 fragments of marble. Archaeologists for centuries have tried to painstakingly piece together the sculpture, fragment by fragment. Now, computer wizards at Stanford University say they have created a software program that holds the key to the puzzle and the ancient city.

An underground maze found packed with mummies was most likely an ancient multifamily cemetery, Egypt's top archaeologist said. A French team made the recent discovery of hundreds of mummies crammed into deep shafts and corridors at Saqqara, 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of Cairo.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) has worked out a plan to restore Essna Temple which is currently in a procuring condition. The temple that lies south of Luxor is being endangered by high underground water and the low level of the Nile water in front of the temple caused by the Essna barrages. Sewerage drained by housing agglomeration in the vicinity of the temple is also affecting the walls of the temple. According to Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, the plan which is estimated to cost some LE 70 million involves the dismantling of the temple and reinstalling it after raising the level of its floor to the level of the ground just as was the case with the Philae Temple in Aswan.

An exhibition featuring photographs of the dismantling and re-erection of the temples of Abu Simbel held in the Egyptian Museum last month reminds Jill Kamil of the debate fuelled during the UNESCO salvage operations. Today we remember the dramatic dismantling, transportation and reconstruction of the great temples of Nubia, now tourist attractions at their relocated sites at home and abroad. We tend to forget the specialised studies carried out by international experts who worked there between 1958 and 1971, when the High Dam was completed, that cast light on Nubia's many cultures. So many blanks in the history of the region were filled in during those years that more is known about the indigenous cultures of Nubia than many archaeological zones in the world, even in Egypt.

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - A well-preserved graveyard possibly 1,000 years old has been discovered at an archeological complex of Inca and pre-Inca temples on the outskirts of the Peruvian capital, experts said on Wednesday. Archeologists this week unearthed the remains of 30 people, including 19 still intact as mummies, dating from between 1000 and 1500, making them some of the oldest mummies ever found in Peru. They said the discovery was "exceptional" because the site had not been plundered by grave robbers and that some of the dead were religious sacrifices.

PURPLE SPRINGS, ALTA. - Archeologists in Alberta have found a large bison kill site containing stone tools that point to an early trade route. The bison bones are behind wind-swept sand dunes in a small, shallow valley near Purple Springs, Alta., about 70 kilometres from Lethbridge. Archeologists think more than 1,000 years ago, hunters stalked, slaughtered and processed thousands of the animals at the site, primarily in the winter.

More than a year after the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad, thieves are still picking apart archaeological sites across Iraq, stealing antiquities from the dawn of civilisation. Hundreds of cylinder seals - stones engraved with pictures and hieroglyphics that were used to stamp clay tablets - have shown up for sale on internet auction sites. Archaeologists and art experts say they have also seen an increase in Mesopotamian statues, cuneiform tablets and other artefacts on the world market. Some claim to have received e-mails from US soldiers inquiring about the value of items they have brought back as souvenirs.

Designed by Sostratus during the reign of King Ptolemy II, Pharos was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World due to its immense height that reached 400 feet. Standing on a little island of the same name opposite Alexandria, it would guide sailors into the city harbour for 1,500 years till it was toppled by earthquakes around 1345.

July 2003 saw a significant discovery in Ecuador by IRD archaeologists: 4000-year-old structures indicating the presence of one of the first great Andean civilizations in the upper Amazon Basin, where their presence had not been suspected. The site is at Santa Ana- La Florida in the south of Ecuador. Subsequent systematic excavations of other parts of the site led to the discovery of sophisticated architectural complexes. Among these are a tomb and a range of diverse vestiges: ceramic bottles, plain or ornamented stone bowls, medallions and pieces of necklace in turquoise, malachite and other green stones. These objects convey the refinement achieved in lapidary art of this new Pre-Columbian civilization. They provide proof that this site was used for ceremonial purposes and funerary rites. These discoveries confirm the hypothesis put forward following the first excavations. They highlight the importance of the site and of the people who were settled there. They call into question theories on how the first great Andean civilizations emerged and the supposed interactions that took place between the different populations of these regions.

WINNIPEG - Archeologists say an aboriginal grave they found during a routine survey in northern Manitoba is 6,500 years old and contains the bones of a mother and child. They are among the oldest human remains found in Manitoba, independent archeological contractor David Finch said.

Kalacha, Kenya - Thousands of years ago, images of giraffe, antelope, elephant and rhino were scratched onto rock faces in the middle of a desert near Kalacha, in the extreme northeast of Kenya. To this day there is no consensus on exactly why. Almost every twist of the path along the base of the embellished hill offers another tableau.

For decades, Dick and Marjorie Johnson walked the fields of rural southern Anne Arundel County, visually scouring the dirt for stones and pottery shards that a plow's blade unearthed. The Native American artifacts the couple amassed form a collection that experts consider archaeologically priceless. Last month, the Deale couple gave two dozen cartons of spear points, axes, pestles and other items to Anne Arundel County's archaeology program. Experts hope studies of the artifacts will help them understand what life was like for Native Americans over thousands of years.

An attempt will be made today to have a hill reclassified as a building to protect one of the most enigmatic prehistoric structures in Europe. Ramblers may gain a theoretical entitlement to walk up the sides of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire if the largest manmade mound in Europe is classified as "open countryside" under the countryside and rights of way bill. The highest profile objectors to the draft maps so far are celebrities including Madonna, anxious to protect their privacy

A ROMAN settlement full of fascinating artefacts has been uncovered near Burton Dassett. But funding is urgently needed if the local volunteer archaeologists are to complete the important excavation. Volunteers from the Felden Archaeological Society have discovered an array of items dating as far back as 500 BC, including flints, pottery and metal clips believed to be from a toga. Aerial photos and geophysical tests have shown evidence of a one km sq stone settlement between Northend and Burton Dassett lying underneath the earth.

The glass and steel skyline of St. Louis rises just 10 miles from the excavation pits in Glen Carbon, where archaeologists are sifting through the soil for pottery shards and flint chips, clues to another civilization that vanished a millennium ago. The 1 1/2-acre excavation site is one of only a few sites in the Metro East area dating to the end of the Woodland period. The village that archaeologists are poring over preceded the Mississippian culture, which produced the fabled Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville

Legendary Troy, perched on a hilltop in what's now northwestern Turkey, draws thousands of visitors every year. And their overwhelming reaction is disappointment. "Most tourists get there and say, 'This is it?' " says Eric Cline, an archaeologist at George Washington University. The place of which Homer sang--a rich city with "lofty gates" and "fine towers," temples to Apollo and to Athena, the palace of King Priam with a grand throne room and 50 marble chambers, a land in which thousands of warriors defended the beautiful Helen against an invading Greek force--looks like a rude ruin on a dusty hill. Mostly, there's a fort with big walls, but they encircle an area only about 200 yards across. Around it are some scattered stones. Says Andrew Sherratt, an archaeologist at Oxford University: "It seems like pretty small beer."

A rare ancient coin may feature an early record of Halley's comet, researchers say. The coin features the head of the Armenian king Tigranes II the Great, who reigned from 95 to 55 BC. A symbol on his crown that features a star with a curved tail may represent the passage of Halley's comet in 87 BC, say the Armenian and Italian researchers.

TEHTAN (CHN) -- International archeologists are set to return to Iran, a quarter of a century after they left in the wake of events that led to the Islamic Revolution. They are going to complete their unfinished explorations reports and present new ones based on their previous and novel findings in the historical sites in the country.

The remains of 28 early humans found buried at the bottom of a cave shaft in northern Spain may belong to a group that died suddenly in a "catastrophe". Experts conducted an analysis to determine whether it was likely the bodies accumulated in the shaft over years or were dumped at the same time. They concluded the 350,000-year-old death chamber may have held the victims of a disease outbreak or a massacre.

The Great Salt Lake in Utah has an otherworldly quality to it. It is a pink-tinged hyper-saline lake trimmed with a halo of salt that encrusts everything it touches. With water levels at a 30-year low, the salt load has reached a saturation point of 30%, giving it 10 times the salinity of seawater.

The US space agency's robotic rover Opportunity has found initial evidence that rocks at a new Martian crater it is exploring were deposited in water. The rover has conducted tests on a 30-cm-long rock called Lion Stone, which was probably tossed out by the impact that excavated Endurance Crater.

German scientists have discovered a new kind of volcano that contains asphalt instead of lava. Gerhard Bohrmann of the Research Centre for Oceanic Borders in Bremen says the volcanoes were found underwater in the Mexican gulf. The are between 450 and 800 metres high and have a variety of animals and bacteria living on them. Asphalt can be created if special micro-organisms feed on crude oil under water. But while small amounts of asphalt have sometimes been found under water, nothing coming close to the volcanos had been known to exist until now.

MARIEMONT - An archaeological dig in this eastern Hamilton County village, where a major sewer project is expected to start later this year, has turned up thousands of Indian artifacts. The items were found in the project area by the pool in Dogwood Park off Wooster Pike. They include clay pot pieces, an old fish hook, corn, broken arrowheads, tools and a few human bones, said Matt Purtill, a principal investigator and archaeologist with Gray & Pape Inc., of downtown Cincinnati.

After years of uncertainty, archaeologists and church leaders in the UK have agreed a set of guidelines governing excavations of Christian graves. The move is a response to calls for excavated human remains to be reburied on consecrated ground, and follows controversies over repatriating remains from North America and Australia held in museums. Archaeologists are often brought in when human remains are discovered on construction sites for roads and houses. But what happens next can sometimes be controversial.

CHACO CANYON, N.M. - As Rich Friedman twists the handle of the T-shaped auger, the steel blades bite into loamy brown soil in a field where scientists suspect Anasazi farmers grew corn 1,000 years ago. Friedman is part of a Boulder-led research team that collected 60 soil samples around the Chaco basin this month in an ongoing effort to determine where the Anasazi grew all the corn they would have needed to feed the thousands who periodically gathered in the canyon.

The tomb of Osirion in Abydos, Suhag is a unique one because it is designed to be an island in the Nile since it is related to the famous myth of the drowning of Osiris. The name of the tomb is also attributed to Osir, the god of the Under World. The Osirion lies behind the temple of Seti I, from the west side. The tomb was excavated between 1911 and 1914 but its unearthing was completed in 1925-1926. The Osirion is a symbolic tomb of Seti I by virtue of the inscriptions found on the wall. It is built of limestone, red sandstone and red granite. The extraordinary tomb is currently being jeopardized by underground water, which is leading to the decay of the stones. The rising level of underground water has covered the island.

The skull of a man believed to have lived more than 6,000 years ago was dug up in Shanghai's Qingpu District, the Shanghai Daily reported Thursday. Researchers believe the man was aged 25 to 30 when he died. The skull was excavated from February to April at the Qingpu District site called Songze Ancient Culture Ruins, which was first found in 1957. Researchers said the skull was about 1,000 years older than any other found in Shanghai.

At the start of the 20th century, a Danish mathematical historian named Johan Ludvig Heiberg made a once-in-a-lifetime find. Tucked away in the library of a monastery in Istanbul was a medieval parchment containing copies of the works of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes, including two never-before-seen essays. To mathematicians' astonishment, one of the new essays contained many of the key ideas of calculus, a subject supposedly invented two millennia after Archimedes' time. The essay caused a sensation and landed Heiberg's discovery on the front page of a 1907 New York Times

The discovery of a boat chapel in the temple of Hathor at Dendera brings to mind ancient festivals and religious rituals. In March, a Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) mission restoring the temple at Dendera uncovered the main chapel of the temple where the sacred boat of the goddess Hathor once stood. The boat found by the archaeologists, who have been working in Dendera since the beginning of the year, was used during the goddess's annual festival, one of the most delightful celebrations in Ancient Egypt.

Excavations revealing part of Belfast's maritime past have been described as some of the most exciting in the city's archaeological history. A section of a 19th century bridge which spanned the old docks in Belfast city centre has been uncovered during work on a major retail development. Archaeologists have discovered the arch of Edward Bridge, later known as Mays Bridge, which dates from the early 1800s on the site of the Victoria Square development.

The US space agency's Mars rover Opportunity has begun investigating rocks along the rim of the large crater it is perched by on the Red Planet.

Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said the French mission has discovered two Pharaonic mummies during excavation operations in Sakkara.

AN Elgin Marbles-style campaign has begun to secure the return to Wales of the Red Lady of Paviland, one of the world's most important archaeological finds. The skeleton of the "Red Lady" complete with jewellery and a mammoth's head marker was discovered in 1823 at Paviland Cave on Gower. Later analysis showed the skeleton to be that of a man, possibly a chieftain, but the Red Lady tag stuck.

Scientists said Thursday they think the greatest extinction of plant and animal life may have been caused by a meteor that slammed into an area off what is now the coast of northwestern Australia 250 million years ago. The mass extinction known as the "Great Dying" -- which took place long before the dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago -- has been known to scientists for decades.

A privately-built manned spacecraft has reached a record altitude of 212,000ft over California on one of its final tests before officially entering space. SpaceShipOne was built by aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan who hopes to win the Ansari X-prize of $10m (£5.7m) for the first private flight into space.

Archaeologist Bill Kelso suffered from three nagging fears when - defying the prevailing scientific wisdom and the best historical advice - he sunk a shovel into the ground in search of America's birthplace. His worst nightmare was that the naysayers had it right - that the palisaded fort constructed by Capt. John Smith and the first English settlers on the banks of the James River in 1607 had long ago washed away into the currents. His second was that he and his small staff would find nothing more momentous than the mid- to late-17th-century artifacts that previous archaeologists - digging on adjacent National Park Service land - had already recovered by the millions. His last and most far-fetched worry - conjured up in a contradictory moment of hope and gloom - was the discovery of a horde so large and so rich that his underfunded project would sink beneath the epic scale of the care required.

TREASURE hunters who raided an archaeological dig may have taken away or destroyed vital historical evidence, it has been claimed. Archaeologists have been labouring for months on earthworks on the north east side of Caergwrle Castle Hill, near Wrexham, trying to date the ruins there. However, it has now emerged that metal-detector enthusiasts have been exploring the site and may have removed important finds.

The largest particle detector in Mexico is being built inside a pyramid in the ancient settlement of Teotihuacan. The equipment will detect muons, tiny particles that are created when cosmic rays bombard the Earth's atmosphere. Dr Arturo Menchaca and colleagues from Mexico's National Autonomous University hope that by tracking the muons through the pyramid, they can find cavities.

Phnom Penh - Archaelogists from around the globe are poised to launch a campaign in Cambodia aimed at preventing looters from spiriting away the kingdom's ancient treasures, they said on Tuesday. Heritage Watch, the first independent group of its kind in Cambodia, is due to begin operations within a month and will focus on protecting the array of prehistoric artefacts here, director Dougland O'Reilly said. "Cambodia is a fantastic opportunity for archaelogy because it hasn't been explored scientifically due to the long period of conflict," O'Reilly told AFP, referring to decades of unrest that formally ended in 1998.

A tiny Iron Age tool found in Holland is one of the oldest objects unearthed in Europe made from the alloy steel. The 6cm-long punch has a carbon content (2%) rarely seen in iron-based objects from the region at the time. The 4th Century AD tool, which may have been used as a nail, was probably made using the process of furnace smelting.

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) -- Guatemalan archaeologists have uncovered evidence of the first human remains discovered at an important Mayan archaeology site, a scientist said. Archaeologist Christa Schieber, one of the project's directors, told The Associated Press on Monday that the tomb was found during the excavation of a building constructed in the pre-Classic period.

Steven Beckwith, who oversees operation of the Hubble Space Telescope, said the other day that the observatory could be knocked out of commission the next day by a meteoroid. It wasn't. But the situation reflects the precarious nature of any satellite. Hubble's status right now is more precarious than it has ever been.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A sharp new image of the brilliant nebula called the "Red Rectangle" reveals it looks more like a ladder with a giant X through it. The new image of one of the most unusual celestial bodies in the galaxy was created from observations by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999 and was released Tuesday. The nebula was discovered in the early 1970s. Astronomers promptly nicknamed it "Red Rectangle."

Australian astronomers have discovered a huge arm of the Milky Way which means maps of our galaxy will have to be redrawn. The new gassy limb is 77,000 light years long and several thousand thick. The mass of hydrogen runs along the galaxy's outermost edge around the four main arms that swirl around the core. As it is not in the visible part of the light spectrum, it cannot be seen by telescope and was discovered by staff at the Australia National Telescope Facility in New South Wales who were mapping the distribution of hydrogen.

Australia did have a wide range of pre-historic carnivores, scientists in Sydney now claim. A popular theory of the last 10 years had claimed that poor soils had restricted the size and diversity of the country's warm-blooded predators. But researchers now say comparing Australia and South America over 25 million years shows this is a myth. They say the country did have such fierce creatures as killer kangaroos and marsupial lions.

CHENGDU, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- In an out-of-the-way area of southwest China not on the beaten path of most foreign tourists visiting the picturesque home of the giant panda, giant Buddha andTibetan people lies a little-known site that holds its own unique mystique. Some 100 years ago, Sanxingdui in today's Sichuan Province hadn't seemed to anyone anything more than a typical rural area, and just 20 years ago its significance was not fully known. But when a farmer hollowing out a just-dug ditch in 1929 found some jade he unwittingly opened the door on an unknown culture between 3,000 to 5,000 years old.

An ancient map of the North Atlantic - which features sea snakes and other dreadful monsters - may have boasted surprisingly advanced information. The Carta Marina - published in 1539 - depicts elaborate sea swirls, which, say researchers, closely match a giant ocean front shown in satellite images. If correct, it means the Swedish cartographer Olaus Magnus may have been the first to map such an ocean feature.