January 4th News

There's lots of stories today on a wide range of topics. They range from new discoveries to new information on older discoveries as well as some new museum exhibits.

New stories as of 8:35 AM:

U. Va. To Return Looted Greek Statues To Italy
WAVY.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The University of Virginia plans to return two ancient Greek sculptures to Italy nearly three decades after tomb raiders looted them from Sicily...
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7577082&nav=menu45_2

UVa To Return Looted Greek Statues
Daily Progress
The University of Virginia announced Thursday that it will return to Italy two ancient Greek sculptures of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone - nearly three decades after they were looted from Sicily by tomb raiders...
http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173354081201&path=!news

Ancient Lives Uncensored
The Courier-Mail
ANYONE looking for lessons in the history of censorship and propaganda need look no further than Pompeii...
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23001599-5003424,00.html

Ancient Roman Pan Offers Valuable Insights At Arbeia Roman Fort
24 Hour Museum
An ancient Roman pan, which was made sometime after AD 122 but was only uncovered in 2003, is to go on display at Arbeia Roman Fort on Saturday January 5 2007...
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART52903.html
The photo at the beginning of the article is really something. The colours are incredible.

Italy: Remains Of Ancient Luxury Villas Open To Visitors In Rome
Post Gazette
ROME -- The restored ruins of two opulent Roman villas and private thermal baths have opened to the public here, equipped with a 3-D reconstruction that offers a virtual tour of the luxurious residences found in downtown Rome...
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08004/845070-37.stm

Water Plant Work Digs Up Evidence Of Roman Fort
The Scotsman
A 2000-YEAR-OLD Roman fort has been uncovered on the site of a new £60 million treatment plant for the Capital's drinking water...
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Water-plant-work-digs-up.3641122.jp

Dwarf Gene Discovery: Explanation For Hobbit Species?
ABC News
In a discovery that could help boost understanding of a rare type of dwarfism, researchers announced today that they have found a genetic culprit for the condition...
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4080802&page=1

Archaeological Dig At Cathedral
Salisbury Journal
PREPARATIONS for this year's celebrations of Salisbury Cathedral's 750th anniversary have continued apace, with an archaeological dig taking place inside the cathedral to allow a new specially-designed font to be installed...
http://www.thisissalisbury.co.uk/display.var.1944053.0.archaeological_dig_at_cathedral.php

Climate Change Put Big Chill On Neandertals, Study Says
National Geographic News
Neandertals in western Europe were ravaged by an increasingly hostile climate rather than an invasion of modern humans, according to new research...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-neanderthals.html

Neanderthals Stitched Too Little Too Late
Discovery News
Jan. 3, 2008 -- Neanderthals probably froze to death in the last ice age because rapid climate change caught them by surprise without the tools needed to make warm clothes, finds new research...
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/01/03/neanderthal-clothes.html?dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000
A second take on the new information.

Roman Camp Found At Glencorse
MidLothian Today
AN unexpected historical discovery has been made at Scottish Water's site at Glencorse, near Penicuik — a Roman marching camp nearly 2000 years old...
http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/Roman-camp-is-found-at.3626108.jp

New Pharahonic Mummy Found
Egypt State Information Service
Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has stated that the mummy which had been unearthed at farms in the governorate of Al-Fayoum is Pharohnic and priceless...
http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/EgyptOnline/Culture/000001/0203000000000000000912.htm
Not much information here at all.

Grisly Discovery Of Headless Bodies Gives Insight Into Justice Saxon Style
Yorkshire Post

ONCE they were spectacular resting places to honour the dead.

But with pagan Britain's conversion to Christianity, the Bronze Age burial mounds came to be regarded with suspicion as places where devils and dragons lurked...
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Grisly-discovery-of-headless-bodies.3629080.jp

Ice Skating Born Of Necessity?
Discovery News
Jan. 2, 2008 -- Ice skating, now a winter tradition around the world, may have been invented in Scandinavia 5,000 years ago, new research suggests...
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/01/02/finland-ice-skating.html