Egypt: Zahi Hawass gets the boot

The iconic, press-loving minister of antiquities has been given the sack, as reported by the Associated Press:

Egypt's antiquities minister, whose trademark Indiana Jones hat made him one the country's best known figures around the world, was fired Sunday after months of pressure from critics who attacked his credibility and accused him of having been too close to the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Zahi Hawass, long chided as publicity loving and short on scientific knowledge, lost his job along with about a dozen other ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle meant to ease pressure from protesters seeking to purge remnants of Mubarak's regime.

"He was the Mubarak of antiquities," said Nora Shalaby, an activist and archaeologist. "He acted as if he owned Egypt's antiquities, and not that they belonged to the people of Egypt."

Despite the criticism, he was credited with helping boost interest in archaeology in Egypt and tourism, a pillar of the country's economy.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Egypt-s-iconic-antiquities-chief-fired-1470020.php#ixzz1SSojqQTO

Limerick Hell-Fire Club

While back home, I was lucky enough to get a trip out to Askeaton Co. Limerick. Work is currently under-way restoring Askeaton Castle, but funding has run out on the 18th Century build beside it, the Limerick Hell-Fire Club. It is such a shame, as the building really needs some serious TLC. Very unusual in design and one of only two buildings in the country associated with the Hell-Fire Clubs, it looks like the heritage board just don't see it as a priority. The town is more famous for its island Castle, initially built in the late 12th century, the majority of the building now dates to the 15th century and was in use until Cromwellian forces dismantled it in the late 17th century.

The Limerick Hell-Fire Club:

New Discovery: Minoan Double-Axe-Head found outside of Crete

While driving around Bristol the other week, saw this:

July News: Fossils, cerne abbas & Maiden Castle

The last few weeks have been insanely hectic for me, hence the long drought of blog posts. First off, a trip to Dorset, Fossil Hunting!

A jaunt around Weymouth:

Camping in glamourous Hollywood:

And trips out to Cerne Abbas and Maiden Castle:

(Above, 4th Century AD, ruins of Roman Temple on top of Maiden Castle)

Wild Hogs of Ireland

New sections added

I occasionally try to improve my haphazard blog.

Today I added a new "Pics" section: in it you'll see the main image of each post along with a tag line, click either image or text to go straight to the story.

I also added the option to get updates of my blog direct by email, see the option "Follow by email" on the right-hand-side bar ->>>

Suggestions are always welcome, so send me any ideas on how I can improve the site!

Making the Statue of Liberty

There is something incredibly appealing about seeing the various stages of construction of iconic builds, this is definitely up there! Check out this link to see the whole series of amazing images: LINK

Berkeley Castle: newly discovered skeletons

The biggest news of the year, as reported by BBC News:

About 30 skeletons dating back 500 years have been found during an archaeological dig at a castle in Gloucestershire. 


The skeletons were discovered near an old churchyard during excavation work looking for Anglo-Saxon remains at Berkeley Castle.
They will now be taken for reburial at a nearby churchyard.
In 2005, archaeologists uncovered the remains of an Iron Age settlement in the grounds the Grade-I listed castle.
But only last year, a £5m appeal was launched to save the structure from falling into ruin.
A survey by English Heritage had uncovered a list of structural and cosmetic problems needing attention.
The Plantaganet king, Edward II was murdered at the Gloucestershire castle in 1327.

Greece: Gold hunters arrested for excavation blast at ancient site

THESSALONIKI, Greece — Police in northern Greece say they have arrested six men accused of using dynamite to search for buried ancient gold at a protected archaeological area.

Authorities said Thursday that the four Greek and two Albanian men were arrested Wednesday after police discovered a 12-meter (40-foot) tunnel blasted into the side of a mountain near the city of Kavala, 700 kilometres (435 miles) north of Athens.

The tunnel, with support columns and a construction track, was first started in 2008, according to local police, who said the suspects would be charged with illegal excavation, illegal use and possession of explosives, and violating archaeological protection laws.

Archaeological services would not comment on whether they believed there was buried gold in the area.

Source: Associate Press/The Canadian Press via Google News

Quote of the day!

It is no raising sedition, or breaking the peace, to take a blaspheming Hell-Fire Club man by the throat, and swinge him in the next horse-pond, or cool his brains at the next pump...

(Funny) Pic of the day!

This is bloody hilarious! Here's a snippet about the piece:

In the Jack Reese Galleria of the great Hodges Library of the University of Tennessee the art and artifacts of the Centaur excavation at Volos has found a permanent home. This reconstruction of a Centaurian burial site was assembled by Professor William Willers of the University of Wisconsin in the mid-1980s before being moved to the University of Tennessee. This controversial reconstruction has -as intended-- provided the catalyst for countless discussions about (for example) biological possibilities, mythological realities, cultural transmission, psycho-dynamic representations, and occasionally the possibility of an elaborate hoax. As the embodiment of the ideal integration of physical, spiritual, and intellectual strengths, the Centaur is a prominent candidate for University mascot.

Read more here and a bit more here

Pic of the day!

Teeth from ancient human ancestors suggest that females joined new social groups once they reached maturity

Fossilized teeth of early human ancestors bear signs that females left their families when they came of age, whereas males stayed close to home.

A chemical analysis of australopithecine fossils ranging between roughly 1.8 million and 2.2 million years old from two South African caves finds that teeth thought to belong to females are more likely to have incorporated minerals from a distant region during formation than those from males.

"What that's telling us is that the females grew up somewhere else and they died in the caves," says Julia Lee-Thorp, an archaeological scientist at the University of Oxford, UK, and a co-author on the study, published today in Nature. "It's a very small clue, but it's something that is at least hard evidence for what we really didn't have before."

The shape of ancient human families has been the subject of speculation, based mainly on differences in the relative size of male and female fossils, and the behavioural patterns of our primate relatives. Female chimpanzees, for instance, typically leave their social group once they hit maturity. Among gorilla groups, which are dominated by one large male 'silverback', both males and females tend to strike out.

Modern humans, who are influenced by relatively recent cultural practices such as marriage and property ownership, are difficult to compare to our early ancestors, lead author Sandi Copeland of the University of Colorado at Boulder said in a press briefing.

Read more about this type of forensic dentistry here

Mexico: Underworld tunnel found under the Temple of the Snake

Teotihuacan, with its huge pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, its palaces, temples, homes, workshops, markets and avenues, is the largest pre-Hispanic city in Mesoamerica. It reached its zenith in the years 300-600 AD.

Researchers found a tunnel under the Temple of the Snake in the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, about 28 miles northeast of Mexico City.

The tunnel had apparently been sealed off around 1,800 years ago.

Researchers of Mexico's National University made the finding with a radar device. Closer study revealed a "representation of the underworld," in the words of archaeologist Sergio Gomez Chavez, of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Experts found "a route of symbols, whose conclusion appears to lie in the funeral chambers at the end of the tunnel."

The structure is 15 yards beneath the ground, and it runs eastwards. It is about 130 yards long.

"At the end, there are several chambers which could hold the remains of the rulers of that Mesoamerican civilization. If confirmed, it will be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 21st century on a global scale," Gomez Chavez said late Thursday.

SOURCE

Egypt's lost pyramids

Some of them, at least. This is the best archaeology story of the day - 17 pyramids found using satellite infra-red survey techniques. Over 3000 settlements and 1000 tombs were also detected. This is a much needed boost to the region's tourist industry. It also clearly demonstrates that there is still a vast amount of material left to be newly uncovered, even in such a well-studied and extensively excavated country.

Read the full story here

Young child discovers hair from extinct Mastodon

I hope this story gets used to get kids excited about volunteering on projects - that they could be the next to discover a really fun find!

Read the full story here

Incredible holographic technology

This material is crazy! I can see the potential uses for museum/galleries that don't have a lot of space but want to show, for example, 3D representations of ruins and the like.

Berkeley Castle Excavations (University of Bristol)

Having a great time digging this week at Berkeley Castle, check out their official website: http://www.berkeley-castle.com/index.php

I've been helping clear up some of the overgrowth, move plenty of buckets and barrows, and of course TROWLING!

Archaeological photos and details coming soon!

Limerick's continuing destruction of heritage

I'll let this article speak for itself, source here . Thanks to Emily for notifying me of this.

Check out the comments section on his article for more info... Angry Bock is angry:

Limerick City Council — Destroying Your Heritage One Cellar At A Time

Another big round of applause to Limerick City Council for smashing in the hidden treasures beneath our feet. This is what happens when a local authority has no conservation officer, no archaeologist, no heritage officer and no architect. It puts hundreds of years of history at the mercy of an ignorant lout with a digger.

Under our town, there’s another hidden city of subterranean caverns, 200 years old, which the city council is busy demolishing. In a grown-up country, some official would see that this is a resource and would plan a way to use it for the common good, but not here in Ireland.

In this country, we give such decisions to roads technicians — people who wouldn’t know heritage from a hole in the ground.

Found this gem by accident today

This is how to write an angry letter!

For those of you unfamiliar with 18th century writing, I have transcribed the text

You curst, damned, Hell-Fire Dog, if you don’t answer our first Letter, you damned Dog, I will blow up your House, and kill you wheresoever I meet you. As for the Son of a Bitch your Brother, I will cut him in Pieces, and broil him in Beef-Shakes in the Flames of his own House. You Son of a damned Bitch, obey my Commands, or I will serve you as I will your Brother, for making Game of my last Letter. As for the Names I subscribed in the last Letter, they laughed at it as a Jest; but they shall, like a Pack of Hell-Fire Dogs, find their Houses in Flames in earnest. As for the Proclamation (here he used language not fit to be mentioned).