October 6th News

Compared to the last few days, there's quite a bit today. I find the article about Archimedes to be particularly interesting.

New stories as of 11:15 AM:

Cyprus Stings Smugglers
The Times
Nicosia - A police sting netted five people accused of trying to peddle antiquities possibly dating back millenia to a foreign buyer for tens of thousands of euros...
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=580654

A Prayer For Archimedes
Science News Online
For seventy years, a prayer book moldered in the closet of a family in France, passed down from one generation to the next. Its mildewed parchment pages were stiff and contorted, tarnished by burn marks and waxy smudges. Behind the text of the prayers, faint Greek letters marched in lines up the page, with an occasional diagram disappearing into the spine...
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20071006/mathtrek.asp
I'm sure I've seen something about this on Nova in the past few years. Or is this an entirely new book?

Greeks Go For All The Marbles In Effort To Get Back Artifacts
Washington Post
ATHENS -- On Saturday, huge cranes will begin lifting ancient statues, carvings and architectural fragments off the Acropolis, down to a new museum built at the base of the most famous citadel in the world. For the vast majority of these stone remnants of the great age of Athens, it will be the first time they have ever left this rocky summit...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100500162.html

Cypriot Police Seize Ancient Artifacts, Arrest 6 Suspected Smugglers
International Herald Tribune
NICOSIA, Cyprus: Cypriot police seized ancient gold and other artifacts dating up to 3,000 years back and arrested six suspected smugglers in a sting operation Friday, authorities said...
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/05/europe/EU-GEN-Cyprus-Illegal-Antiquities.php

Stolen Priceless Maps Seized By Police In Australia
Expatica
MADRID -AFP - Police in Australia have recovered two maps of the world by the ancient Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy which were stolen from Spain's national library, Spanish media reported Friday...
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=44652

Secrets Of The Fort Unveiled
North-West Evening Mail
THE secrets of Ambleside’s Roman fort are being laid bare...
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=550883

Earliest Scots Braved Ice Age Conditions
Discovery News
Oct. 5, 2007 — During the last ice age, Scotland was likely a desolate place covered by glaciers, but new evidence suggests intrepid settlers braved the elements by establishing a community there as early as 13,000 years ago...
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/10/05/firstscots_arc.html?category=archaeology&guid=20071005111500&dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000

Archaeologists To Survey The Nile In Search of Sunken Antiquities
Daily India
Cairo, Oct 6: An Egyptian archaeological team will track down the locations of the Nile river's ancient sunken treasures...
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/180154.php/Archaeologists-to-survey-the-Nile-in-search-of-sunken-antiquities

Mysterious Rune Stone Identified In Norway
EarthTimes
STAVANGER, Norway, Oct. 5 Archaeologists in Norway have identified a mysterious rune stone found buried under a church floor as part of a larger tombstone, a report said...
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/119637.html