On this Rarerly Seen 400-Year-Old Map, China is the Center of the World

WASHINGTON, DC.- A rarely seen 400-year-old map that identified Florida as “the Land of Flowers” and put China at the center of the world went on display Tuesday at the Library of Congress. The map created by Matteo Ricci was the first in Chinese to show the Americas. Ricci, a Jesuit missionary from Italy, was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing in the early 1600s. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the [...]

Israel Uncovers the Earliest Building Ever Found in Tel Aviv

TEL AVIV.- Remains of a prehistoric building, which is the earliest ever discovered in the Tel Aviv region and estimated to be c. 7,800-8,400 years old, were exposed in an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority recently carried out prior to the construction of an apartment building in the “Green Fichman” project in Ramat Aviv. Ancient artifacts that are thought to be 13,000 and 100,000 years old were also discovered there. IAA workers during the archaeological excavation. Photo: Assaf Peretz [...]

Egypt: New Find Shows Slaves didn’t Build Ancient Monuments

CAIRO .- Egypt displayed on Monday newly discovered tombs more than 4,000 years old and said they belonged to people who worked on the Great Pyramids of Giza, presenting the discovery as more evidence that slaves did not build the ancient monuments. The series of modest nine-foot-deep shafts held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders, perfectly preserved by dry desert sand along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers’ afterlife. The mud-brick tombs were uncovered [...]

“Golasecca: Of Trade and Men in the Iron Age” at the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE.- The Celts’ trading partners in the early Iron Age were traditionally the Etruscans and the Greeks. Yet studies carried out in northern Italy since the 1970s demonstrate the dynamism of the peripheral communities which have proved to be significant intermediaries in the trade between temperate Europe and the Mediterranean, especially the “Golasecca culture”. This exhibition aims to show the specific features of this culture within the communities of the Alpine arch. The archaeological reassessment has been made possible by [...]

China Finds Likely Tomb of 3rd Century General Cao Cao

BEIJING.- Chinese archaeologists have found what could be the tomb of Cao Cao, a skillful general and ruler in the 3rd century who was later depicted in popular folklore as the archetypal cunning politician. Archaeological officials say Cao’s 8,000-square feet (740-square meter) tomb complex, with a 130-feet (40-meter) passage leading to an underground chamber, was found in Xigaoxue, a village near the ancient capital of Anyang in central Henan province, according to the official China Daily newspaper. Historians say Cao [...]

Museum of Macedonia Displays 9,800 Artifacts Excavated at Archaeological Sites in 2009

SKOPJE.- The Macedonian Information Agency reported that Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska, Minster of Culture, opened Sunday the annual exhibition of artifacts excavated at archaeological sites throughout Macedonia in 2009. Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, also attended the opening of the exhibition which took place at the Museum of Macedonia. A total of 9,800 artifacts excavated at 18 archaeological sites throughout Macedonia are displayed in the Museum of Macedonia, in the framework of the third archaeology exhibition. The display includes items from Ohrid’s Gorna [...]

18th-Century Texas Mission Ranch Buried in Funding Limbo

FLORESVILLE, TX.- Ruins that archeologists call one of the last links to the original ranches and cowboys that shaped Texas have been kept behind a gate, literally buried, for more than two decades — awaiting the funding that would allow people to see them. The 18th-century Rancho de las Cabras complex, with its stone building remains, was a birthplace of the large commercial ranching operations that would help define the state. Preservationists have long hoped it could be fully excavated [...]

U.S. Firm Ordered to Turn $500 Million Treasure Over to Spain

MIAMI, FL.- A Florida treasure-hunting firm must hand over to Spain the $500 million in gold and silver coins the company salvaged more than two years ago from the bottom of the Atlantic, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday ruled. The judge rejected the arguments offered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. to support its claim to the treasure. While giving Odyssey 10 days to turn over the hoard, Merryday left the door open to extending that deadline to accommodate a [...]

London to Hold Year Long Celebration of Stamps, Design and Postal Heritage

LONDON.- A year long festival of exhibitions and events celebrating stamps, their design and postal heritage kicks off in January 2010. The “London 2010: Festival of Stamps”, coordinated by The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA), will show the important role that stamps play in our lives: as a key part of a nation’s heritage they form the world’s biggest public art gallery, showcasing a diverse and striking picture of the world. A highlight of next year’s Festival includes a [...]

Christie’s to Offer Historical Collection from Newton Hall in January

SOUTH KENSINGTON.- Christie’s announced the sale of a fine single owner collection; “The Country House Sale: Newton Hall, Northumberland” to be held on January 20, 2010. The Widdringtons of Newton were a powerful and influential land owning family associated with Northumberland as far back as the 12th-century. Theirs is a fascinating history coloured by Royalist favour, Jacobite sympathies and military honors. Descendents include William, 2nd Baron Widdrington (d.1675), an M.P for Northumberland who accompanied the Marquis of Newcastle to the [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell Chinese Export Porcelain from Collection of Elinor Gordon

NEW YORK, NY.- On the afternoon of 23 January, 2010 Sotheby’s will offer over 280 lots of Chinese export porcelain and China Trade paintings from the private collection of esteemed longtime dealer Elinor Gordon. A fixture at the “Winter Antiques Show” since its inception in 1955, Gordon is largely credited with elevating Chinese Export Porcelain to an independent collecting category. Indeed she herself began as an avid collector before entering the trade in 1953. Over several decades, Gordon and her [...]

Monument Lifted from Cleopatra’s Underwater City in the Mediterranean Sea

ALEXANDRIA.- Egyptian archeologists have lifted out of the Mediterranean Sea an ancient granite temple pylon from the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in the waters of Alexandria’s harbor. Divers and underwater archeologists used a giant crane and ropes to lift the 9-ton, 7.4-foot-tall pylon from the murky waters Thursday. The tower was originally part of the entrance to a temple of Isis, a pharaonic goddess of fertility and magic. The temple is believed to have been near the palace that [...]

Earthquake Shakes Central Italy; Rescuers Recover Artwork from Church in Spina

ROME.- Authorities say a magnitude 4.2 earthquake has shaken the Italian region of Umbria but caused no injuries. Towns in the province of Perugia reported buildings lightly damaged by the temblor, monitored by Italy’s national institute of geophysics. Italy’s agriculture minister said Tuesday 600 people were evacuated until their homes can be inspected. Mayors of several hamlets ordered schools closed Wednesday for inspections. Italian rescuers recover artwork and a statuette of the Virgin Mary, from the church in Spina, near [...]

World War II Veteran had Hitler’s Art Book on Bookshelf

DALLAS, TX (AP).- After fighting his way across Europe during World War II, John Pistone was among the U.S. soldiers who entered Adolf Hitler’s home nestled in the Bavarian Alps as the war came to a close. Making his way through the Berghof, Hitler’s home near Berchtesgaden, Germany, Pistone noticed a table with shelves underneath. Exhilarated by the certainty of victory over the Nazis, Pistone took an album filled with photographs of paintings as a souvenir. “It was really a [...]

George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe Auction Records Set in NYC

NEW YORK, NY.- A letter by George Washington has sold for $3,218,500 at auction in New York City, setting a world record for a letter by America’s first president, according to Christie’s. Washington’s 1787 letter to nephew Bushrod Washington argues for the ratification of the newly drafted Constitution. The letter had been owned by descendants of Bushrod Washington for more than 100 years, Christie’s said. The buyer was not identified. George Washington’s signature (bottom right) marks a letter to his [...]