The tomb of Henry VII in Pisa has revealed a fabulous 14th century silken shroud worked with lions …

Henry VII of Luxemburg (1275 – 1313) was the son of a rather insignificant count of Luxemburg and raised at the French court. During his youth he agreed to become the vassal of the French king and few believed he was destined for something more. Nevertheless in 1308 he became embroiled in the political machinations, which followed upon the assassination of the German King Albert. When an infight broke out between the two contenders – Charles of Valois and Rudolf, the Count Palatine – Henry was elected as a compromise. In January he was crowned king in Aachen and in 1309 the pope – residing in Avignon – confirmed his election and promised to crown him emperor. After much politicking to and fro Henry began his descent into Northern Italy in October 1310.

Here he met with a hot mixture of support and armed opposition resulting in continuous negotiations, sieges and downright warring. In 1311 he was crowned king of Italy in Milan but it took nearly one and a half year before he achieved his imperial coronation in Rome – in the Lateran and performed by cardinals since the king of Naples held St. Peter and Castel san Angelo and the Pope resided in Avignon. A few months later and back in Pisa, where he had his base, he began to plan a war against Naples. Unfortunately he died of Malaria near Siena a few weeks after he had embarked upon this venture; from here he was taken back to Pisa and buried. Of him Dante famously declared  (in the Paradiso) that it was “he who came to reform Italy, before she was ready for it”. (Par. xxx, 137-8).

In Pisa a sarcophagus was created by Tino di Camaiano who was a pupil of Pisano, while his brother commisoned a chronicle, Codex Balduini Trevirensis with a series of interesting illuminations describing his Italian campaign and the good people of Pisa lamented their loss of the massive funding he had used up on his way to glory. Later the tomb was dismantled and moved and nobly thought there might be anything interesting left in the coffin.

This week a conference was organized in Pisa in commemoration of his death 700 years ago and at the same time it was announced that his tomb had been opened and had revealed a treasure trove of extraordinary objects. These include a large silk cloth worked with the imperial lions and pink and blue ribbons measuring 3 x 1.20 meters, a sceptre, an imperial crown and a globe. Apart from his physical remains the objects are claimed to be of extraordinary value. Especially the silken shroud is said to be extremely important not only because of its size, but also the vibrant colours.

SOURCE: Medieval Histories

Mycenean Palace and Linear B Tablets Discovered in Sparta Area.

By A. Papapostolou

A new excavation in the Xirokambi area of Aghios Vassilios west of Sparta, in the Peloponnese, Greece, has revealed a richness of Mycenean artefacts in the area, including the remains of a palace, Linear B tablets, fragments of wall paintings, and several bronze swords.

The excavation, led by emeritus ephor of antiquities Adamantia Vassilogrambrou, was presented publicly at the biennial Shanghai Archaeology Forum at the end of August as one of 11 sites showcased from different parts of the world.

The Aghios Vassilios excavation began in 2010, after Linear B tablets were found in the area in 2008, pointing to the existence of a powerful central authority and distribution system. The deciphered texts were devoted to perfume and cloth production, the trade of which was controlled by a palace administration in the Mycenean era.

Evidence of a central palace administration was confirmed also by the architecture, which is dated to the 14th century BC, while contact with Crete was confirmed by the finding of a double axe, a feature of the island’s palace culture.

Artefacts found include seals, a multitude of ceramic and bronze vessels, and 21 bronze swords. According to the evidence, a sudden fire that broke out either at the end of the 14th century or the beginning of the 13th destroyed the three buildings on the site which were never rebuilt at the same location.

Italian archaeologists reproduce the wine of ancient Rome.

by Tom Kington from www.theguardian.com

Archeologists in Italy have set about making red wine exactly as the ancient Romans did, to see what it tastes like.

Based at the University of Catania in Sicily and supported by Italy's national research centre, a team has planted a vineyard near Catania using techniques copied from ancient texts and expects its first vintage within four years.

"We are more used to archeological digs but wanted to make society more aware of our work, otherwise we risk being seen as extraterrestrials," said archaeologist Daniele Malfitana.

At the group's vineyard, which should produce 70 litres at the first harvest, modern chemicals will be banned and vines will be planted using wooden Roman tools and will be fastened with canes and broom, as the Romans did.

Instead of fermenting in barrels, the wine will be placed in large terracotta pots – traditionally big enough to hold a man – which are buried to the neck in the ground, lined inside with beeswax to make them impermeable and left open during fermentation before being sealed shut with clay or resin.

"We will not use fermenting agents, but rely on the fermentation of the grapes themselves, which will make it as hit and miss as it was then – you can call this experimental archaeology," said researcher Mario Indelicato, who is managing the programme.

The team has faithfully followed tips on wine growing given by Virgil in the Georgics, his poem about agriculture, as well as by Columella, a first century AD grower, whose detailed guide to winemaking was relied on until the 17th century.

"We have found that Roman techniques were more or less in use in Sicily up until a few decades ago, showing how advanced the Romans were," said Indelicato. "I discovered a two-pointed hoe at my family house on Mount Etna recently that was identical to one we found during a Roman excavation."

What has changed are the types of grape varieties, which have intermingled over the centuries. "Columella mentions 50 types but we can only speculate on the modern-day equivalents," said Indelicato, who is planting a local variety, Nerello Mascalese.

"To sweeten up their wine, which could be vinegary, the Romans added honey and water to it," he said. "They made better stuff for nobles and cheaper, more vinegary stuff for slaves. We will try and make both types."

The drinking habits of Romans have also changed in two millennia. Whereas Italians today drink moderately with meals, their ancestors were more given to drunken carousing.

"An edict was issued in the first century AD halting the planting of vineyards because people were not growing wheat any more," said Indelicato.

"The Romans took the concept of getting together for a drink from the Greeks after they conquered the Greek-controlled Italian city of Taranto in the third century BC.

"They drank at festivals to mark the pending harvest, after the harvest. In fact, any occasion was good for a drink."

Archaeologists Just Found Another British Noble Buried Under a Parking Lot

By Adam Clark Estes.

There's a sad lesson about urban planning in the trend of major archaeological finds turning up under parking lots in the United Kingdom. Or maybe it's a happy lesson. It's hard to tell.

Archaeologists just announced the discovery of headstone bearing the marks of nobility at the site of a new building being constructed in Edinburgh. Though they've yet to analyze the remains, they believe the knight was buried sometime in the 13th century. "This find has the potential to be one of the most significant and exciting archaeological discoveries in the city for many years, providing us with yet more clues as to what life was like in medieval Edinburgh," said Richard Lewis, a member of the City of Edinburgh Council, in a statement.

Funnily enough, the site of the discovery is a parking lot once used by the University of Edinburgh's archaeology department. This is even funnier when you consider the fact that the long lost remains of King Richard III showed up underneath a parking lot in Leicester. On one hand, the tandem discoveries show that the Brits paved over a lot of important piece of land to build parking lots. On the other hand, the fact that these remains were well preserved and untouched in modern times also suggests that parking lots work as pretty good shields from earth movers. 

It turns out that a lot of great archaeological treasures are found under parking lots. They are, after all, both plentiful and protective. And the recent discovery also shows that the Brits are giving due diligence to having archaeologists on hand when they break ground. While not everybody is thrilled about what historian Edward Tenner refers to as an "exhumation craze," it's encouraging to see workers take care to treat the ground beneath historical locations gingerly.

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Archaeologists believe Stonehenge may have been a burial site.

by: Shane McGlaun

One of the great mysteries in archaeology for decades has been exactly what Stonehenge was used for. Archaeologists and scientists have also attempted over the decades to figure out exactly how prehistoric humans could have constructed such an elaborate site using massive and incredibly heavy stones. Over the weekend, archaeologists offered up a new theory on what I Stonehenge might’ve been used for.

The archaeologists believe that centuries before the first massive sarsen stone was put in place at Stonehenge, the monument could’ve been a giant burial ground. The archaeologists report that they’ve discovered over 50,000 cremated bone fragments from 63 different individuals. These bone fragments were excavated and studied for the first time by a group of archaeologists headed by Professor Mike Parker Pearson.

Pearson has been working with Stonehenge and nearby monuments for decades. According to Pearson, he believes the earliest burials of the site are much older than the monument itself in its current form. According to Pearson, the smaller standing stones were carried to the site from Wales and placed as grave markers at approximately 3000 BC.

He believes that the site remained as a graveyard for at least 200 years with sporadic burials after that time. The archaeologists and his team used new techniques and were able to determine the first time that the burials at the location were not only of adult men. According to the new investigation there are almost equal numbers of men and women including children. The archaeologists discovered artifacts such as an incense bowl leading them to believe that the people buried at the site could’ve been religious and political leaders along with their immediate family.

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Giant camel fossil unearthed in the Arctic.

by: Erin Wayman.

The long-lost cousins of today's camels once roamed the high Arctic, browsing open forests in regions that are near-barren landscapes today. That's the conclusion from an analysis of the fragmentary remains of an ancient leg bone unearthed on Canada's Ellesmere Island, which lies just west of northern Greenland. The find also adds to the tantalizing clues about how these moose-sized, presumably shaggy progenitors fit into the camel family tree—a lineage that today boasts only two species of true camels but includes plenty of South American relatives such as llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicuñas.

Today, camels inhabit arid regions stretching from northern Africa to the interior of Asia. But ancestors of the creatures first evolved in North America about 45 million years ago, says Natalia Rybczynski, a paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Some of these animals crossed a land bridge from what is today Alaska to eastern Siberia—and that meant they were living, even thriving, at latitudes where few mammals can now subsist.

The fossils, dug up by Rybczynski and her colleagues in recent field seasons, came from a gravel-rich layer of sediments laid down more than 3.4 million years ago. The 30 or so bits of bone, none more than 7 centimeters long, have suffered much since they were entombed: Ice sheets have scoured Ellesmere Island several times in the past few million years, and today's freeze-thaw cycles continue to splinter fossils into ever-smaller fragments, Rybczynski says. The sizes and shapes of the bone bits suggest that they came from a tibia (a lower leg bone), but from those clues alone it's impossible to identify the species or group of mammal the fossils came from. However, some bone features clearly indicate that the creature was an artiodactyl, a broad group that today includes deer, cows, and camels.

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SWISS DOLMEN REVEALS RITUALS OF THE NEOLITHIC

Source: www.pasthorizonspr.com

A sensational archaeological discovery has been made in the region of  Bern, Switzerland, consisting of a communal dolmen grave dating back to over 5,000 years, containing 30 bodies and Neolithic artefacts. It represents the first intact burial chamber to be found north of the Alps.

Unexpected discovery

In October 2011, specialists from the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern began investigation of the large granite slab weighing in at 7 tonnes. The glacial erratic measured 3 metres long, 2 metres wide and was nearly 1 metre thick – what they did not realise at first was that it still covered a grave belonging to a Neolithic community.

The site was originally found when a farmer decided to try and remove the glacial boulder that he had to mow around when cutting grass in his field.

The boulder is from the last glacial maximum – some 20,000 years ago – and used by the early farmers during the 4th millennium BCE for burial purposes.

According to a report in the Berner Zeitung, Roman and medieval artefacts were found directly overlying the Neolithic layers and show the dolmen was a visible feature in the landscape until at least the 13th century CE. Most of the sediments that cover the site are flood deposits from the nearby river.

Like winning the lottery

The site director of the Oberbipp dolmen excavation, Marco Amstutz comments, “What we found here is like winning the lottery. “

An intact Neolithic communal burial is slowly coming to light, after fears the grave may have been ransacked in the past. The uprights are slightly tilted due to constant flooding from the nearby river, but despite this, the site is reasonably intact.

The excavation of the burial chamber has revealed over 30 individuals as well as what must represent grave goods from the period, including flint arrowheads pendants made of animal teeth and one bead, probably of limestone.

DNA testing of the occupants as well as sophisticated analysis of their teeth will be taking place over the next two years.

Italian Archaeologists discovered the temple of Jupiter Stator in Rome

The Temple of Jupiter Stator was first vowed, according to ancient tradition, by Romulus after a battle with the Sabines. The city of Rome was hardly more than a settlement on the Palatine Hill, and the battle was taking place in the valley, in the Forum Romanum. The Romans were forced to retreat up hill by the Via Sacra, but at the Porta Mugonia they managed to regroup and hold their ground against the Sabines, who were eventually defeated.

Romulus consecrated a templum to Jupiter Stator, "The Stayer", at the spot, just outside the Porta Mugonia. The sanctuary was not an aedes, more likely it was an altar enclosed by a low wall or fence.

In 294 BCE Marcus Atilius Reguilus made a similar vow in a similar situation, when the Romans were losing a battle against the Samnites, but then miraculously turned around, regrouped and held their ground against the enemy. Afterwards he had an aedes, a temple building, constructed on the site of the archaic altar.

On November 8, 63 BCE consul M. Tullius Cicero convened the senate to a meeting in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, where he held his famous first oration against Catiline, denouncing an attack on the state, which he then ruthlessly suppressed.

The location of the Temple of Jupiter Stator is not known with absolute certainty. The written sources give some hints, such as near or just outside the Porta Mugonia (but it is not known where that was), on the higher end of the Via Sacra or just on the Palatine.

There is a fair amount of consensus on a location just besides the Arch of Titus on the N. slope of the Palatine Hill. When a medieval tower was demolished in 1827, the ruins of an ancient building appeared, and these remains are frequently identified as the foundations of the Temple of Jupiter Stator.

The Italian archaeologist Filippo Coarelli places the Temple of Jupiter Stator closer to the forum, between the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the Basilica of Maxentius, where the so-called Temple of Romulus  stand. His line of reasoning is based on the course of the Via Sacra before the construction of the Basilica of Maxentius, the known borders of the ancient administrative regions of the city and literary sources listing the monuments in each region. The location near the Arch of Titus does not fit, since it is in the wrong administrative region and not in the right position relative to the other buildings listed by ancient writers, but the Temple of Romulus on the Via Sacra is a perfect match.

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Archaeologist says bones found in Turkey are probably those of Cleopatra’s half-sister.

By John Bordsen.

Long-buried bones and a missing monarch. Add some historical notoriety and modern technology and you have a heck of a captivating, science-driven story.

Just this month, it was announced that bones found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, belonged to King Richard III. DNA evidence, according to the lead archaeologist at the excavation, proved this “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

For Hilke Thur, a Vienna-based archaeologist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a similar quest awaits empirical closure. The locale is more exotic – western Turkey – and the evidence is much more difficult to analyze: The bones in question are a bit more than 2,000 years old.

Thur will cover this and other aspects of her work in a March 1 lecture at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh.

The title: “Who Murdered Cleopatra’s Sister? And Other Tales from Ephesus.”

In a recent interview, Thur discussed…

What took her to Ephesus

“I’m an architect as well as an archaeologist, and Ephesus – a large and important city on the coast of Asia Minor centuries before it became part of the Roman Empire – has long been one of the biggest archaeological sites. It is the main excavation of the Austrian Archaeological Institute.

“I was a student when I started working there in 1975, and have based a great deal of my career around the site. From 1997 to 2005 I was assistant director of the Ephesus excavations.

“An English engineer directed the first archaeological digs there in 1869. But since 1895 only Austrian-led projects have permission to do that, though Turks sometimes have excavations. I’d like to add that it’s quite an international team there, with researchers from all over the world.

“My specialty is interpreting buildings and monuments. The excavations of one monument, The Octagon, began in 1904. In 1926, a grave chamber was found inside The Octagon. The skeleton inside it has been interpreted to be that of a young woman about age 20.”

What thickened the plot

“When I was working with the architecture of The Octagon and the building next to it, it wasn’t known whose skeleton was inside. Then I found some ancient writers telling us that in the year 41 B.C., Arsinoe IV – the half-sister of Cleopatra – was murdered in Ephesus by Cleopatra and her Roman lover, Marc Antony. Because the building is dated by its type and decoration to the second half of the first century B.C., this fits quite well.

“I put the pieces of the puzzle together.”

The eight-sided clues

“In antiquity, ordinary people were not buried within the city. That privilege was only for special people – those with an aristocratic background, or people who did special things for their city. So the body must have belonged to a special person. Also, the skeleton was of a woman.

“Then there is the shape of the building. While The Octagon exists only as ruins today, its pieces have been photographed. The images were digitized and ‘virtually rebuilt’ on a computer. The shape of the building, an imperial grave monument, resembles the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The lighthouse, destroyed centuries ago, was built at Alexandria, on the Egyptian coast, by the Ptolemy dynasty from which Cleopatra and Arsinoe IV were descended.

“The center portion of the lighthouse tower was octagonal, which was quite unusual at the time.”

Forensic evidence

“The site of The Octagon has a grave chamber. It was opened in 1926, but the opening was very small, and no one entered it until later on.

“The skull had been removed for tests; it disappeared in Germany during World War II. But there are photos of the skull, and notes written down by those who examined it.

“In 1985 the back side of the chamber became accessible and I re-found the skeleton – the bones were in two niches. The body was removed and examined. The bones were found to be those of a woman younger than 20 – 15 or 16, perhaps.

“The revised age was used for arguments against my theory of the body belonging to Arsinoe IV, but those arguments didn’t find anything to disprove my theory.

“This academic questioning is normal. It happens. It’s a kind of jealousy.”

What would prove her theory

“They tried to make a DNA test, but testing didn’t work well because the skeleton had been moved and the bones had been held by a lot of people. It didn’t bring the results we hoped to find.

“I don’t know if there are possibilities to do more of this testing. Forensic material is not my field.

“One of my colleagues on the project told me two years ago there currently is no other method to really determine more. But he thinks there may be new methods developing. There is hope.”

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Archaeologists discover mammoth burial site.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Serbia say they have discovered a rare mammoth field containing the remains of at least five of the giant beasts that lived here tens of thousands of years ago.

The discovery last week at the Kostolac coal mine, east of the Serbian capital of Belgrade, is the first of its kind in the region. It could offer important insight into the ice age in the Balkans, said Miomir Korac from Serbia's Archaeology Institute.

"There are millions of mammoth fragments in the world, but they are rarely so accessible for exploration," he told The Associated Press.

"A mammoth field can offer incredible information and shed light on what life looked like in these areas during the ice age."

The remains were found during coal excavation about 20 metres below ground. Mr Korac said the mammoth field stretches over some eight hectares of sandy terrain.

In 2009, a well-preserved skeleton of a much older mammoth was found at the same site. Vika - as the female skeleton was dubbed - is up to one million years old and belonged to the furless, so-called southern mammoth.

The bones discovered last month probably belong to the so-called woolly mammoth, which disappeared some 10,000 years ago, said Sanja Alaburic, a mammoth expert from Serbia's Museum of Natural History.

Ms Alaburic explained that "this discovery is interesting because, unusually, there are many bones in one place," probably brought there by torrential waters.

Mr Korac said Serbian archaeologists already have contacted colleagues in France and Germany for consultation. He said at least six months of work will be needed before all the bones are unearthed.

Another mammoth skeleton was discovered in northern Serbia in 1996. It belonged to a female mammoth that lived about 500,000 years ago and is now on display in the town of Kikinda, near the Hungarian border.

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Peru archaeologists find ancient temple.

PERUVIAN archaeologists have discovered a temple believed to be about 5,000-years-old at the ancient El Paraiso archaeological site in a valley just north of Lima, the Culture Ministry says.

If the date is confirmed, it would be among the oldest sites in the world, comparable to the ancient city of Caral, a coastal city some 200km to the north.

The discovery, dubbed the Temple of Fire, was found in one of the wings of El Paraiso's main pyramid. It includes a hearth that experts believe was used to burn ceremonial offerings.

"The smoke allowed the priests to connect with the gods," said Marco Guillen, who led the team of researchers who made the find.

Archaeologists found the hearth in mid-January as they were carrying out conservation work at a set of 4,000-year-old ruins known as El Paraiso, located some 40km northeast of Lima in the Chillon River Valley.

The discovery shows "that the Lima region was a focus of civilisations in the Andean territory", Deputy Culture Minister Rafael Varon told reporters.

Archaeologists believe the ancient coastal civilisations raised crops including cotton, which they traded with coastal fishermen for food.

El Paraiso, spread across 50 hectares, has 10 buildings and is one of the largest ancient sites in central Peru.

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Archaeologists Discover 150 Skulls from Largest Mass Human Sacrifice in Meso-America.

An excavation in Mexico has led to the discovery of troves of human skulls. Archaeologists believe that the skulls come from the largest mass human sacrifice unearthed yet in ancient Meso-America.

The study, published in the journal Latin American Antiquity, describes the surprising finding. The skulls were found miles from the nearest study in what used to be a body of water called Lake Xaltocan but now simply contains an empty field. The location was so unassuming that researchers had not even immediately thought to look there; they discovered the site when they stumbled upon evidence of looting when viewing satellite images of ancient canals, irrigation channels and lakes that would have surrounded the ancient Teotihuacan kingdom, according to LiveScience.

Upon investigation, the archaeologists discovered over 150 human skulls that were attached to one or two vertebra. The location also held a shrine, which contained incense burners, deity figurines and pottery that indicated a ritual linked with local agriculture. Through carbon dating, researchers have found that the skulls were a minimum of 1,100 years old and, of the dozens of skulls that have been tested so far, the majority belonged to men.

Because most of the skulls belonged to men, researchers believe that they were carefully chosen, rather than the result of indiscriminate slaughter of a village. However, that 

determination shakes up previously held assumptions about human sacrifice in the region. While several cultures in Meso-America, including the Teotihuacan kingdom, participated in human sacrifice, they mostly occurred at large urban pyramids and were connected to state power - a far cry from this mass human sacrifice that would have taken place in a rural area.

Researchers believe that a drought caused the end of the Teotihuacan kingdom, which led to a period of bloody war and political infighting among several regional groups.

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Hermes statue uncovered in Antalya!

A bronze Hermes statue from the Roman era, which has been unearthed during excavations in the ancient city of Patara in the southern province of Antalya’s Kaş district and restored at the Antalya Museum, was yesterday introduced to Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.

The head of the excavations, Professor Havva İşkan Işık, said the four-meter long head statue was unique in Turkey and the world, saying, “we have never found such a stature before.”

Işık said the statue was estimated to date back to the period of Emperor Constantine. “This is a work from the late period, which makes it more special,” he said.

Following the uncovering of the statue, it was observed that the statue looked like the modern day people of the region.

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What a hobbit REALLY looks like: Researchers reconstruct the face of Homo Floresiensis

Reconstruction based on skull fragments found in Flores in 2003.

Researchers say result is 'not pretty, but definitely distinctive'.

By MARK PRIGG.

On the eve of the release of Peter Jackson's version of the Hobbit, researchers in Australia have revealed what the early human dubbed the 'hobbit human' really looks like.

Researchers analysed the homo floresiensis unearthed by Professor Mike Morwood and the Liang Bua archaeological team in Flores, Indonesia in 2003.

'She's not what you'd call pretty, but she is definitely distinctive,' said Dr Susan Hayes of the University of Woollongong, who led the research.

The 18,000-year-old skeleton, officially known as Homo floresiensis, gets its nickname from its squat stature. 

The 3-foot (1-metre) tall, 30-year-old female based on remains that were uncovered in the Liang Bua cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores in 2003

Since the discovery, scientists have debated whether the specimen actually represents an extinct species in the human family tree, perhaps a diminutive offshoot of Homo erectus, a 1.8-million-year-old hominid and the first to have body proportions comparable to those of modern Homo sapiens.

'In the media it's often called 'facial reconstruction', but because I'm evidence-based and work in archaeological science, we prefer the term 'facial approximation',' Dr Hayes said.

 The project, marking the beginning of the Australian Archaeological (AAA) Conference being hosted by UOW from 9-13 December, involved Dr Hayes applying her methods to a very different female individual.

She was given access to the very significant remains of Homo floresiensis unearthed by Professor Mike Morwood and the Liang Bua archaeological team in Flores, Indonesia in 2003.

Dr Hayes described the facial approximation as an extraordinary challenge working on an archaic hominin.

'She's taken me a bit longer than I'd anticipated, has caused more than a few headaches along the way, but I'm pleased with both the methodological development and the final results.'

'She's taken me a bit longer than I'd anticipated, has caused more than a few headaches along the way, but I'm pleased with both the methodological development and the final results,' said Miss Hayes.

With a background in forensic science, Hayes was able to flesh out the face of the 3-foot (1-meter) tall, 30-year-old female based on remains that were uncovered in the Liang Bua cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores in 2003.

The 18,000-year-old skeleton, officially known as Homo floresiensis, gets its nickname from its squat stature. 

Since the discovery, scientists have debated whether the specimen actually represents an extinct species in the human family tree, perhaps a diminutive offshoot of Homo erectus, a 1.8-million-year-old hominid and the first to have body proportions comparable to those of modern Homo sapiens.

The skulls of the miniature human found on the Indonesian island of Flores (left) are a third of the size of humans.

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Rare Artifact Stolen From Israeli Archaeological Dig

A recently uncovered rare archaeological artifact was stolen this week from the Tel Shiloh archaeological site in Israel. Tazpit News Agency reported last week on the discovery of the artifact, a broken clay pitcher lying in a layer of reddish ashes that helped to complete the story of the devastation of Shiloh, the ancient capital of Israel during the First Israelite 

commonwealth. The ashes found attest to a devastating fire the occurred on the site. The dating of the clay pitcher, 1050 BCE, correlates with the dating of the limited portrayal of events surrounding Shiloh’s destruction depicted in Book of Samuel. This artifact is one of its kind, and it was the first to shed light on the biblical mystery it solves.

The artifact was stolen from the exact location it was found at, still lodged in the wall. A part of it was left behind.

The site administration filed a compliant with the police immediately after the theft was discovered.

Avital Selah, director of the Tel Shiloh site, told Tazpit News Agency he could not find a motive for the theft. “I don’t know what can be done with it; it has no value as an antique, but does have immense historical significance. I believe it may be the act of someone who desired to have the artifact in his possession after hearing about the discovery in the media. I don’t think there was criminal intent here; I don’t think it was a professional job, only poor behavior. I call on the person who took the artifact to return it and save this extremely important historical finding.”

The Tel Shiloh site is now exploring the option of installing further security measures to prevent such incidents in the future. “These are the treasures of the Tabernacle. We can’t afford to lose them again,” said Selah.

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Ancient Penis God Temple Discovered By Archaeologists In Bulgaria

Sozopol, Bulgaria – Archaeologists for the National Historical Museum have found an ancient temple curiously dedicated to a dramatically well-hung penis god.

You laugh, but people did indeed worship this penis god. In fact, you probably know him by his given name, Priapus. He was a god in the Greek pantheon, and pretty much the patron saint of penises.

MSN reports that the ancient temple to Priapus was unearthed in the southern town of Sozopol on the Black Sea and that the archaeologists knew they were onto the penis god when they found a clay phallus with “To Priapus” inscribed on it during the dig.

This type of thing was given to Priapus by men who had problems with fertility or erectile dysfunction, reports Sofia Globe. So, instead of popping some Viagra for a casual Saturday night with the wife, you’d get dressed and head to the penis god temple to offer a clay dildo unto Priapus on the hope that he’ll  favor you and help you get closer.

It gets better. There’s a local legend about Priapus that tells of the penis god running into a donkey and getting into a dispute about who was better-endowed. The donkey bet its life in the bargain and ended up losing it (and becoming a sacrifice) because Priapus is the god of penis, and, if he can’t beat everyone at that, he’s not a very good god.

The ancient penis god temple is actually a pretty significant find too. It suggests to archaeologists that a cult of Priapus did indeed exist, but the size of which, believe it or not, has been under dispute.

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Minoans Warlike?

By: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
Published: 01/15/2013 01:33 PM EST on LiveScience

The civilization made famous by the myth of the Minotaur was as warlike as their bull-headed mascot, new research suggests.

The ancient people of Crete, also known as Minoan, were once thought to be a bunch of peaceniks. That view has become more complex in recent years, but now University of Sheffield archaeologist Barry Molloy says that war wasn't just a part of Minoan society — it was a defining part.

"Ideologies of war are shown to have permeated religion, art, industry, politics and trade, and the social practices surrounding martial traditions were demonstrably a structural part of how this society evolved and how they saw themselves," Molloy said in a statement.

The ancient Minoans

Crete is the largest Greek isle and the site of thousands of years of civilization, including the Minoans, who dominated during the Bronze Age, between about 2700 B.C. and 1420 B.C. They may have met their downfall with a powerful explosion of the Thera volcano, which based on geological evidence seems to have occurred around this time.

The Minoans are perhaps most famous for the myth of the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull that lived in the center of a labyrinth on the island.

Minoan artifacts were first excavated more than a century ago, Molloy said, and archaeologists painted a picture of a peaceful civilization where war played little to no role. Molloy doubted these tales; Crete was home to a complex society that traded with major powers such as Egypt, he said. It seemed unlikely they could reach such heights entirely cooperatively, he added.

"As I looked for evidence for violence, warriors or war, it quickly became obvious that it could be found in a surprisingly wide range of places," Molloy said.

War or peace?

For example, weapons such as daggers and swords show up in Minoan sanctuaries, graves and residences, Molloy reported in November in The Annual of the British School at Athens. Combat sports were popular for men, including boxing, hunting, archery and bull-leaping, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Hunting scenes often featured shields and helmets, Molloy found, garb more suited to a warrior's identity than to a hunter's. Preserved seals and stone vessels show daggers, spears and swordsmen. Images of double-headed axes and boar's tusk helmets are also common in Cretian art, Molloy reported.

Even the yet-undeciphered language of Minoan may hint at a violent undercurrent. The hieroglyphs include bows, arrows, spears and daggers, Molloy wrote. As the script is untranslated, these hieroglyphs may not represent literal spears, daggers and weapons, he said, but their existence reveals that weaponry was key to Minoan civilization.

"There were few spheres of interaction in Crete that did not have a martial component," Molloy said.

Some of the violent nature of Minoan society might have been missed because archaeologists find few fortified walls on the island, Molloy wrote. It may be that the island's rugged topography provided its own defense, he said, leaving little archaeological evidence of battles behind.

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