Posts Tagged ‘archaeology’
Science & Technology - Mar 10, 2010 13:39 - 2 Comments
Eggshells preserve elephant bird DNA
Like an outsized ostrich, Aepyornis stood nearly 3m high and its eggs are the largest bird eggs ever known, with a capacity of 11 litres—equivalent to 180-240 chicken eggs or seven ostrich eggs. Most of the birds appear to have died out before AD 1000, when a lost civilization emerged in the south of Madagascar. (Courtesy: U. Sheffield)
Society & Culture - Feb 19, 2010 11:44 - 0 Comments
Carthage infant sacrifice debunked as myth
U. PITTSBURGH (US)—New research refutes the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens. (more…)
Society & Culture - Jan 14, 2010 12:19 - 1 Comment
Ancient Mongolia—no passport needed
U. OREGON—A newly published atlas, Web site, and digital photo archive document a little-known yet fascinating area of the world—the Mongolian Altai. (more…)
Society & Culture - Nov 23, 2009 13:15 - 0 Comments
West Bank map could inform peace talks
USC (US)—A team of American, Israeli, and Palestinian experts has developed the first map detailing 40 years of Israeli archeological activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem—much of it never publicly disclosed. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 20, 2009 16:53 - 2 Comments
Geo-maps help preserve Egyptian tombs
PENN STATE (US)—Photography and detailed geological mapping may help curators protect ancient Egyptian tombs, some of which lie on fracture traces that are natural entry points for water—and potential flood damage. (more…)
Society & Culture - Oct 15, 2009 16:26 - 0 Comments
Images capture details of ancient tablets
U. CHICAGO (US)—High-quality scans of ancient documents discovered in Iran are shedding new light on Imperial Aramaic, the dialect used for international communication and record-keeping in many parts of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires, including parts of the administration at the imperial court of Persepolis. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Sep 18, 2009 4:00 - 2 Comments
‘Punk-size’ T. rex found in China
Above, the skull of Raptorex is dwarfed by the skull of “Sue,” the famous adult T. rex at the Field Museum. (Credit: Paul Sereno)
Society & Culture - Jul 31, 2009 13:30 - 0 Comments
Southwest’s ‘high society’ led pampered life
Chimney Rock is one of scores of Chaco outliers in the Southwest and perhaps its most dramatic, seated at 7,600 feet in altitude above the San Juan Basin.
Society & Culture - Jun 18, 2009 12:45 - 2 Comments
Volcanic ash preserves clues to Mayan staple crop
University of Colorado anthropologist Payson Sheets is directing excavations of an ancient manioc field near San Salvador—the first evidence of intensive cultivation of manioc in the Americas.
Science & Technology - Jun 11, 2009 15:29 - 1 Comment
Evidence of early hunters deep below Lake Huron
A potential stone hunting blind beneath Lake Huron. (Courtesy: John O’Shea)
Society & Culture - Jun 3, 2009 15:48 - 1 Comment
Free ancient treasures, no digging required
U. CHICAGO (US)—A wealth of material that documents the ancient Middle East has become available through a new, free online service at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. (more…)
Society & Culture - Jun 2, 2009 16:44 - 1 Comment
Inner life of Aztec’s conquered unearthed
The image of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, is seen on this artifact.
Science & Technology - Apr 30, 2009 15:21 - 2 Comments
High-tech cameras digitize ancient tablets
Matthew Stolper from Chicago’s Oriental Institute examines a tablet on loan from the government of Iran. It’s one of thousands of tablets being imaged for a digital archive.
Science & Technology - Mar 9, 2009 20:48 - 0 Comments
Arctic turtle fossil reveals clues to climate change
U. ROCHESTER (US)—A tropical turtle fossil discovered high in the Canadian Arctic suggests that a rapid spike in carbon dioxide some 90 million years ago created a super-greenhouse effect, raising polar temperatures rather dramatically. The find strongly suggests that animals migrated from Asia to North America not around Alaska, as once thought, but directly across a freshwater sea floating atop the warm, salty Arctic Ocean. (more…)
