An Impressive Gold Coin from the Reign of Napoleon III was Discovered

JERUSALEM.- In an archaeological excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, which was conducted on Koifman Street in north Yafo, prior to infrastructure work by NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd, an impressive gold coin from the reign of Napoleon III was uncovered. The ten franc coin was minted in Paris in 1856, at the time of the Second French Empire, and is made of almost completely pure gold (93%). The image appearing on the obverse is that [...]

A Magnificent Pagan Altar was Exposed at the Barzilai Hospital Compound

JERUSALEM.- The development work for the construction of a fortified emergency room at Barzilai Hospital, which is being conducted by a contractor carefully supervised by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has unearthed a new and impressive find: a magnificent pagan altar dating to the Roman period (first-second centuries CE) made of granite and adorned with bulls’ heads and a laurel wreaths. The altar stood in the middle of the ancient burial field. According to Dr. Yigal Israel, Ashkelon District Archaeologist of [...]

57 Ancient Tombs with Mummies Unearthed by Archeologists in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong to the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C. The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the [...]

Russian Dagestan Village Defies Odds with Ancient Art

KUBACHI, RUSSIA (REUTERS).- The cacophony of hammered silver reverberates through the sole school of this tiny village nestled in the lush and craggy Caucasus mountains of Russia’s deeply turbulent Muslim region of Dagestan. Villagers in Kubachi, whose population is a mere 2,300, boast that every man, woman and child has mastered the ancient tradition of delicate silverwork, first brought to the region by Persian traders almost two millennia ago. Teacher Kultum Kutsulova, clad in a flowing white hijab decorated with [...]

Untouched Tomb to Unravel Secrets of Cyprus’s Past

NICOSIA (REUTERS).- Locals say it could be the final resting place of Ajax’s niece, contain a golden chariot and will unleash a horrible curse. But whether a tomb recently uncovered on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus contains the bones and booty of a close relative of a Trojan war hero straight from the pages of Homer or will just yield better evidence for understanding the rituals and lives of ancient Greeks is yet to be revealed. Construction workers in the [...]

Tlaltecuhtli Colossal Monolith was Moved to Templo Mayor Museum

MEXICO CITY.- The Tlaltecuhtli monolith discovered near Templo Mayor Archaeological Site in 2006 was moved in May 17th 2010 to Templo Mayor Museum, where it is to be presented for the first time as part of the Moctezuma II, Time and Destiny of a Ruler exhibition. The colossal sculpture was relocated in a maneuver that used state-of-the-art technology and the work of several persons during more than 31 hours. It was moved from the Ajaracas plot to the museum using [...]

Cyprus: Work Crews Stumble on 2-Millennia-Old Coffins

NICOSIA, CYPRUS.- Work crews in Cyprus have accidentally unearthed four rare clay coffins estimated to be some 2,000 years old, the country’s Antiquities Department director said Wednesday. Maria Hadjicosti said the coffins adorned with floral patterns date from the east Mediterranean island’s Hellenistic to early Roman periods, between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D. She said the coffins were dug up this week from what is believed to be an ancient cemetery in the eastern coastal resort of Protaras. Hadjicosti said [...]

Earliest Mesoamerican Royal Tomb Discovered by Scientific Team inside Pyramid in Chiapas

MEXICO CITY.- A scientific team discovered inside a pyramid the tomb of a dignitary that may be the earliest in Mesoamerica. It was located in Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Zone, in Chiapas; preliminary studies reveal an age of 2,700 years approximately. Osseous rests of 4 persons, 2 of them richly adorned with jade beads and pearls; ceramic utensils and other objects that were treasured in that time and place were discovered at the Zoque affiliation site. According to researchers the [...]

Costumbreros Preserve Prehispanic Rituals in Chiapas

MEXICO CITY.- As they did 2,000 years ago, caves and rocky shelters at walls of Sumidero Canyon, in Chiapas, are still sacred spaces where humans meet ancestors and deities, a practice observed by costumbreros. According to archaeologist Enrique Mendez Torres from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH), in places near Tuxtla Gutierrez, Capoya Plateau, the Mountain Range and Sumidero Canyon are distributed spaces such as rocky shelters, caves and gullies that have been used with ritual means since [...]

Rare Roman Marble Relief Leads Christie’s Auction of Antiquities

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announced the sale of Antiquities on June 10, which will offer over 150 lots with a stunning selection of Roman marbles, Greek helmets and vases, and Egyptian art. The highlight of the sale is a rare Roman marble relief from the Julio-Claudian period, circa early 1st century A.D., that depicts the Emperor Tiberius standing before a seated Genius with the goddess Concordia between them as intermediary. This outstanding Imperial commission, perhaps from an altar or other [...]

Tonina is One of the Greatest Mesoamerican Cities

MEXICO CITY.- Restoration and consolidation work conducted by specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) at the northern part of the Acropolis of Tonina Archaeological Site in Chiapas, have confirmed that it is one of the greatest constructions in Mesoamerica, only comparable to those at Tikal and El Mirador in Guatemala. Dr. Carlos Pallan Gayol, responsible of the INAH Maya Hieroglyphic and Iconographic Heap (AJIMAYA), who collaborates at the archaeological project at Tonina, announced that the most [...]

Mesoamerican Ballgame Exhibition Opens in South Africa Before the World Cup

MEXICO CITY.- The Ballgame was for ancient Mesoamerican peoples an allegory of the access to the underworld as well as a possibility to reborn, and it is present as part of the FIFA World Cup celebration in South Africa through the exhibition Worldview and Skills: Ballgame in Mesoamerica, an archaeological collection about this practice. The show was inaugurated in May 6th 2010 at the Mapungubwe Museum at the University of Pretoria, in Johannesburg, and will be open until June 10th [...]

Research to Take Place at El Tajin Using LIDAR Technology

MEXICO CITY.- Altars, plazas and ballgame courts, among other Prehispanic structures that are still buried at El Tajin, Veracruz may be detected by using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) devises. Archaeologist Patricia Castillo Peña, academic director of the site in custody of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) informed that mapping the archaeological zone is a project that will allow to have detailed register of ancient structures. She commented that the initiative is being revised by the INAH [...]

Archaeological Finding Confirms Ixcateopan Produced Cotton

MEXICO CITY.- Ixcateopan, in Guerrero, was one of the last settlements to be subjugated by Mexica Empire, becoming tributary in the late 15th and early 16th centuries; at this archaeological zone, specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) discovered tools that confirm that people spun cotton, used to confection warrior garments in Tenochtitlan. During the most recent exploration season at the site located 36 kilometers away from Taxco, archaeologists found tools, mainly spindles, when excavating remains of [...]

Archaeologists in Egypt Find Ptolemaic-Era King Statue

CAIRO (AP).- Archaeologists in Egypt said Tuesday they have discovered a headless granite statue of an unidentified Ptolemaic-era king that is more than 2,000 years old. An Egyptian-Dominican team made the discovery at the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of the coastal city of Alexandria, said a statement from the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Alexandria was the seat of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years, until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra. The statue’s height is 53 [...]