February 9th News

A quiet weekend this time, it looks like with only three stories this morning.

New stories as of 10:17 AM:

Tooth Scan Reveals Neanderthals Traveled More Than Thought
LiveScience
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Analysis of a 40,000-year-old tooth found in southern Greece suggests Neanderthals were more mobile than once thought, paleontologists said Friday...
http://www.livescience.com/health/080209-ap-neanderthal-tooth.html
Also published at:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jagcbZ8U0vWraEpHWQcf8ykbFSaAD8UMDQCO0

The Romans Carried Out Cataract Ops
BBC News
Think of the Roman legacy to Britain and many things spring to mind - straight roads, under-floor heating, aqueducts and public baths...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7194352.stm

Treasure Hunting In Bradford
BBC News
The BBC's Richard Westcott goes metal detecting in Yorkshire.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7235620.stm
The article actually does have quite a bit on Roman era discoveries about mid-way down.

February 8th News

There's more information coming up on a number of earlier stories, such as the altar of Zeus, today. The big story however, is the return of the Albanian statues.

New stories as of 6:03 AM:

Greece Returns Stolen Ancient Statues To Albania
Balkan Travellers
8 February 2008 | Greece returned on Thursday two ancient marble statues that were stolen from Albania, as part of a broader campaign against the illegal acquisition of antique objects...
http://www.balkantravellers.com/read/article/348

New Discoveries At The Ash Altar Of Zeus
Spero News
Discoveries offer insights into early origin of ancient Greece's most powerful god, indicating the altar is much older than believed...
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=14290&tag=

Ancient Statues Returned To Albania
United Press International
ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Two ancient marble statues of Artemis and Apollo stolen from Albania in the '90s were officially returned in an Athens ceremony Thursday...
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/02/07/ancient_statues_returned_to_albania/9666/

Greece Returns Stolen Statues To Albania: Ministry
AFP
ATHENS (AFP) — Greece returned to Albania on Thursday two headless marble statues stolen from the museum of Butrint in 1991 and located by police near Athens six years later, the Greek culture ministry said...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVG5wk3k7rwqwzxQvTQeGIj1wJVA

Greece Returns Stolen Ancient Statues To Albania
PR-Inside
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece handed back two stolen ancient statues to Albanian authorities on Thursday, saying it hoped the gesture boosts international cooperation in repatriating looted antiquities...
http://www.pr-inside.com/greece-returns-stolen-ancient-statues-to-r427289.htm

Greece Returns Two Stolen Marble Statues To Albanian Museum
Bloomberg
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Greece's government returned two ancient statues stolen from Albania almost two decades ago...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=apbICdWyflic&refer=muse

Portsmouth Museums' Saxon Skeletons To Help Find Cure For TB
24 Hour Museum
Saxon age skeletons in Portsmouth's Museums collection could potentially pave the way for the development of new drugs to tackle the scourge of tuberculosis (TB) according to new research...
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART54099.html

Experts Unearth Medieval Berlin Under Car Park
US Daily
BERLIN (Reuters) - A team of experts has unearthed an 800-year-old cellar under a central Berlin car park which they say dates the city back to the 12th century, earlier than previously thought...
http://www.theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=294502&type=ScienceArch

February 7th News

I'm rather surprised not to see more on yesterday's news of the discovery of the Roman fort. Oh well, there's lots of new stories today.

New stories as of 9:31 AM:

Stolen Statues To Albania
Athens News Agency
Two ancient marble statues of Artemis and Apollo stolen from southern Albania in the '90s were officially returned to Albania by the Greek state on Thursday, in a special ceremony held at the New Acropolis Museum. The two statues are to be returned to their natural environment in Butrint, southern Albania next week following an initiative by Greek Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis...
http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=6126039&maindocimg=6125917&service=96

Church Dig Unearths Age Riddle
Sunderland Echo
Ancient burial vaults and Saxon walls have been uncovered during excavation work at a Wearside church...
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Church-dig-unearths-age-riddle.3754153.jp

Library's Acquisition Reunites Two Manuscripts Once Bound Together
University Of Chicago Chronicle
After a century-long separation, a 14th-century manuscript of the French love poem “Le Roman de la Rose” was reunited with its mate at the University Library...
http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/080207/manuscript.shtml

Diggers Unearth Medieval Ironworks
This Is Gloucestershire
An ironworks dating back to the 13th Century has been unearthed by diggers in Cinderford...
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231754&home=yes&more_nodeId1=231776&contentPK=19793706
An earlier version of the same article:
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231775&contentPK=19793706&folderPk=109317&pNodeId=231889

Does A Cave Prove Romulus And Remus Are No Myth?
USA Today
The discovery of an ancient Roman cave has unearthed a debate about its historical purpose and delved into a deeper question for scholars: Can archaeology prove mythology?
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2008-02-06-romulus-remus-lupercale_N.htm

Hope Of Finding First King's Home
BBC News
Archaeologists believe they could be closer to discovering the site of the palace belonging to the first King of a united Scotland...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7226410.stm

February 6th News

I hope to see more articles on the discovery of the Roman fort in the next day or so. Also, today, there's another book to go looking for to add to the library as well as other news.

New stories as of 6:06 AM:

Book Tills New Soil In Ancient Gardens
UDaily
4:16 p.m., Feb. 5, 2008--Annette Giesecke, professor of ancient Greek and Roman studies in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at UD, combined her passion for Roman gardens, a quarter-century's worth of Hellenic scholarship and an abiding interest in architecture in her most recent book, The Epic City: Urbanism, Utopia, and the Garden in Ancient Greece and Rome, published late last fall by Harvard University Press...
http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2008/feb/utopia020508.html

DISCOVERY: Oldest Lighthouse At Ancient Roman Port
The New Anatolian
Turkish archaeologists unearthed a 2000-year-old lighthouse at the ancient Roman port of Patara, near southern town of Kas, Antalya, discovering probably the oldest such structure that managed to remain intact...
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-31096.html

Rare Hadrian Bronze
News & Star
A STUNNING piece of Roman memorabilia goes on show in Carlisle this week...
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=594869

Gatehouse Restored At Priory
Fakenham & Wells 24
AN impressive monastic gatehouse which surprised archaeologists with its unexpected secrets has been restored to its medieval glory...
http://www.fakenhamtimes.co.uk/content/fakenhamtimes/news/story.aspx?brand=FAKOnline&category=news&tBrand=fakonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED06%20Feb%202008%2013%3A36%3A21%3A520
Also published at:
http://www.derehamtimes.co.uk/content/derehamtimes/news/story.aspx?brand=DFTOnline&category=News&tBrand=DFTonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED06%20Feb%202008%2013%3A36%3A21%3A520

Archaeologists Discover Roman Fort In Cornwall, England
Science Daily
ScienceDaily (Feb. 5, 2008) — University of Exeter archaeologists have discovered a Roman fort in South East Cornwall. Dating back to the first century AD, this is only the third Roman fort ever to have been found in the county. The team believes its location, close to a silver mine, may be significant in shedding light on the history of the Romans in Cornwall...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205202327.htm

February 5th News

More information on the Greek altar is in articles today. They've recovered a number of items stolen from Fishbourne.

New stories as of 12:41 PM:

Hellenistic Era Finds On Kuwaiti Isle
Athens News Agency
Archaeological excavations on Failaka Island, located 20 km off the coast of Kuwait City in the extreme western end of the Persian Gulf, have brought to light a series of significant Hellenistic period findings, beginning roughly during the period immediately following the death of Alexander the Great...
http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=6119012&maindocimg=5576654&service=102

1400-Year-Old Glass Mosaic Restored
Inside Bay Area
EXPERTS HAVE restored a 1,400-year-old glass mosaic glowing in gold, recovered from a site next to the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_8172947

A Trolley Trove Of Ancient Treasures
Portsmouth Today
Precious ancient artefacts stolen in a raid have been found dumped in a supermarket trolley...
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/latest/A-trolley-trove-of-ancient.3742024.jp

An Altar Beyond Olympus For A Deity Predating Zeus
The New York Times
PHILADELPHIA — Before Zeus hurled his first thunderbolt from Olympus, the pre-Greek people occupying the land presumably paid homage and offered sacrifices to their own gods and goddesses, whose nature and identities are unknown to scholars today...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/science/05zeus.html?8dpc

SSU Exhibit Explores Archaeology In Ancient Nubia
Connect Savannah
Imagine a civilization so powerful it conquered the ancient Egyptians, with people so industrious that they built more pyramids than the Egyptians did...
http://www.connectsavannah.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A6354

Hidden Art Could Be Revealed By New Terahertz Device
Science Daily
ScienceDaily (Feb. 5, 2008) — Like X-rays let doctors see the bones beneath our skin, "T-rays" could let art historians see murals hidden beneath coats of plaster or paint in centuries-old buildings, University of Michigan engineering researchers say...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204111732.htm

February 4th News

There's quite a bit of news this morning. I'm wondering though, what is it that has the articles about Greek and Roman statues having been painted that makes it such big news today? That knowledge has been around long enough to make it into a number of my textbooks.

New stories as of 6:16 AM:

Australia Hands Back A Stolen Ancient World To Spain
The Age
AUSTRALIA has returned to Spain the world as it was known in 1482.
The handing over of a precious 526-year-old map, stolen from the National Library of Spain last year, has been described as the conclusion of a "very unhappy case".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/australia-hands-back-a-stolen-ancient-world-to-spain/2008/02/04/1202090323428.html

Antiquity Had More Than A Monochrome Palette
Times Online
We are so used to the white purity of ancient marble sculptures that we imagine the Greeks and Romans felt the same: certainly the artists and patrons of the Renaissance and later centuries believed that white was right...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article3299711.ece

Ancient Greek And Roman Sculptures Were Multi Coloured
Thaindian News
Washington, Feb 4 (ANI): A new research has revealed that many ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were painted in a variety of colours other than white...
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/ancient-greek-and-roman-sculptures-were-multi-coloured_10016191.html

Discovery Of Hunting Tools Turns Back Clock For Ancient English City By 10,000 Years
Thaindian News
London, Feb 4 (ANI): Archaeologists have found hunting tools at the site of a new shopping centre in the ancient town of Bath in England, that extends the history of the city thousands of years further back...
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/discovery-of-hunting-tools-turns-back-clock-for-ancient-english-city-by-10000-years_10016161.html

Motorway Excavations In UK Reveal Prehistoric Relics
Daily India
London, Feb 4: A motorway dig at Merseyside in UK has resulted in the discovery of more than 3,000 objects ranging from prehistoric to Roman times...
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/212976.php/Motorway-excavations-in-UK-reveal-prehistoric-relics
Also published at:
http://www.topnews.in/motorway-excavations-uk-reveal-prehistoric-relics-218371

Norfolk Skeleton Unearthed
EDP24
A skeleton, believed to be several hundred years old, has been found during archaeological excavations...
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED03%20Feb%202008%2018%3A42%3A49%3A713

Germany And Nordics To Claim Viking Towns As Heritage Sites
Earthtimes.org
Kiel, Germany - A string of Baltic sites where bloodthirsty Vikings moored their longboats, hoarded slaves and booty and held off ethnic rivals are to be claimed as UNESCO world heritage sites. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein said Monday its items for the collection would be Haithabu, which was the Viking trading capital and original site of the city of Schleswig, and the Dannevirke...
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/182537,germany-and-nordics-to-claim-viking-towns-as-heritage-sites.html
Also published at:
http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1126966&lang=EN

Early Burial Ground Discovered By Archaeologists In Doncaster
24 Hour Museum
Archaeologists have discovered a cemetery dating back 1,500 years at the site of a new school near Doncaster...
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART53743.html

February 3rd News

Very quiet this morning. Hopefully things will pick up tomorrow morning.

New stories as of 7:40 AM:

Ancient Remains Unearthed
Evening Courier
Archaeologists at a building site for a new school in Doncaster have uncovered 35 burials from an ancient cemetery...
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/latest-york-and-humberside-news/Ancient-remains-unearthed.3739363.jp