Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Archaeology Travel Channel A trip archaeologists, golfers, whiskey fans can agree on

A famous signpost at the Scottish village of John O’Groats marks it as the farthest tip of mainland Britain – 874 miles from Lands End in Cornwall, the country’s most southerly settlement.
But getting here is just the beginning of a journey that takes visitors more than 5,000 years back in time.

The Orkney Islands are at once remote and mysterious, yet sophisticated – transformed by the economic boom following the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Yet the islands also have archaeological wonders around every corner, along with spectacular scenery, wildlife and some incredible modern history.


We rather like that particular trifecta. The Orkneys contain quite a few interesting archaeologucal sites, some of which are described in the article. Less famous than Stonehenge, the stone circles there have still been the subject of some study.

More from Scotland Discovery in Shetlands dates 2,000 years old

ARCHAEOLOGISTS on a remote Scottish island have uncovered a burial site and building believed to be more than 2,000 years old, it was revealed today.

The site at Sand Wick on Unst, Shetland's most northern isle, has suffered from severe erosion. The team of archaeologists say their discovery is quite significant.


A skeleton was found lying on its back with a polished stone disc found inside its mouth. Near the arm was a tiny ornament formed of rings of copper alloy and bone which the team believes was some kind of pendant.


Uhhhhhhh. . . . Mole's grave found at last

ARCHAEOLOGISTS yesterday uncovered the lost grave of philanthropist Joseph Williamson for just a few hours, before burying the tomb once more.

Local historians from the Friends of the Williamson Tunnels have been searching for the exact location of the grave for the past 10 years and said the find came at the 11th hour.

It was the third time archaeologists had searched for the grave of the "Mole of Edge Hill" who created a labyrinth of tunnels under Liverpool in the 1800s.


Apparently not the small furry type.

Experts excavate oldest worked metal in Europe

Archaeologists found the oldest worked metal in Europe while excavating an early Neolithic village near the village of Dzhulyunitza in central Bulgaria, state TV reported Sunday.

The 3 metal finds are 8,000 years old. The experts found signs of cold treatment during which the metal pieces were transformed into beads. The extraordinary find gives a new direction in the research of the prehistoric people who lived on Bulgarian territory. Only the worked metal pieces found in Anatolia, which is the Asian part of Turkey, is older (11,000 years) than the find in Dzhulyunitza.


Not much in that article, but we'll probably hear more of it.

More on the Dwarf of Kerman Sensations Rise around 25-centimeter Dwarf of Kerman

The 25-centimeter dwarf near Shahdad city of Kerman province and the rumors of the existence of an ancient dwarf city in Kerman province has brought a lot of questions to archaeologists and caused great sensations among the public.

Kerman’s Police Department and the provincial office of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) have asked for the clarification of the situation of the discovered mummified corpse in Shahdad to settle the issue as soon as possible.

Two months ago, illegal excavations in the historical fortress of Gudiz in Kerman province near Shahdad city, which dates back to the Sassanid era, led to the discovery of a 25-centimeter corpse known as the “mummified dwarf” facing archaeologists with a mystery since then.


With a picture!
Dang, can't seem to link to it. Hard to tell. It doesn't look obviously fake, but just looking at the skull structure in that picture it doesn't look 16-17 years old either.