Ancient theatre of Messene re-opens after 1,700 years

Posted: 21 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT

For more than 600 years, the ancient theatre of Messene hosted cultural and political events. Great men of the past found themselves in its spaces, such as the king of Macedonia, Philip V and the skilled general of the Achaean League, Philopoemen from Megalopolis. After 1,700 years of neglect and silence, the ancient theatre of Messene re-opens its doors for the public, this summer. The ancient theatre of Messene [Credit:...

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Linking climate change and human evolution

Posted: 21 May 2013 07:30 AM PDT

Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the Middle Stone Age, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research. Bifacial points recovered from Blombos Cave, South Africa. The tools were manufactured in the Middle Stone Age and are made of silcrete and finished by pressure flaking [Credit: © Christopher Henshilwood, University of...

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New theory claims Humans hunted, ate Neanderthals

Posted: 21 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT

Humans today eat gorillas and chimpanzees, so why would our prehistoric ancestors flinch at sitting down to a nicely roasted Neanderthal? A model representing a Neanderthal man on display at the National Museum of Prehistory in Eyzies-de-Tayac, Dordogne, France [Credit: Pierre Andrieu / AFP / Getty Images] That's the shocking new hypothesis being raised by anthropologists in Spain who wonder if our closest extinct relative was...

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Allosaurus fed more like a falcon than a crocodile

Posted: 21 May 2013 05:00 AM PDT

The mighty T. rex may have thrashed its massive head from side to side to dismember prey, but a new study shows that its smaller cousin Allosaurus was a more dexterous hunter and tugged at prey more like a modern-day falcon. This illustration shows skeleton and soft tissues of the head and neck of the late Jurassic predatory dinosaur Allosaurus [Credit: WitmerLab, Ohio University] "Apparently one size doesn't fit all when it...

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14 closely related crocodiles existed around 5 million years ago

Posted: 21 May 2013 04:30 AM PDT

Today, the most diverse species of crocodile are found in northern South America and Southeast Asia: As many as six species of alligator and four true crocodiles exist, although no more than two or three ever live alongside one another at the same time.  At least seven crocodile species lived alongside the Urumaco region [Credit: UZH] It was a different story nine to about five million years ago, however, when a total of 14...

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Cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

Posted: 21 May 2013 04:00 AM PDT

Herds of wooly mammoths once shook the earth beneath their feet, sending humans scurrying across the landscape of prehistoric Ohio. But then something much larger shook the Earth itself, and at that point these mega mammals' days were numbered. The University of Cincinnati's Ken Tankersley used excavations at Sheriden Cave in Wyandot, Ohio, in his research on the Younger Dryas [Credit: Ken Tankersley, University of...

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Tyche Shrine opens again following long restoration

Posted: 21 May 2013 02:30 AM PDT

The 1,800-year-old Tyche Shrine in Side (Greek: Σίδη) has been restored and opened to visitors with a ceremony attracting a number of senior figures. Tyche Shrine is 1,800 years old and opened in Side after restoration [Credit: DHA] Speaking at a ceremony for the shrine, Antalya Gov. Ahmet Altıparmak said it was very important to unearth cultural artifacts buried under the soil. Altıparmak also said there were many valuable...

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Villagers discover ancient ball game statue in Mexico

Posted: 21 May 2013 02:00 AM PDT

Villagers installing a water pipe in southwestern Mexico stumbled onto an ancient granite statue depicting a player from a pre-Hispanic ball game, the national anthropology institute said Monday. Handout picture released by the National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH) on May 20, 2013, showing an image of a player of a pre-Hispanic ball game, possibly dating back over 1,000 years in the State of Guerrero, Mexico...

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Bahrain digs unveil one of oldest civilisations

Posted: 21 May 2013 01:30 AM PDT

Excavations at an archaeological site in Bahrain are shedding light on one of the oldest trading civilisations. Despite its antiquity, comparatively little is known about the advanced culture represented at Saar. Remains of Saar temple, a temple dating to the Dilmun era of Bahrain's history [Credit: WikiCommons] The site in Bahrain, thought to be the location of the enigmatic Dilmun civilisation, was recently discussed at a...

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Looted Irish treasures recovered in England

Posted: 21 May 2013 01:00 AM PDT

Almost 900 artefacts illegally looted in the Republic by a treasure hunter with a metal detector have been recovered. A treasure hunter with a metal detector found almost 900 artefacts that are to go on display [Credit: Belfast Telegraph] They include three 'gun money' coins, the emergency war money coined by James II from 1689-91 to pay his forces to fight William of Orange. The items, including a Bronze Age axe and...

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Musicians rebuild Cambodia's lost ancient harp

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:30 AM PDT

A Cambodian composer has revealed the sound of an ancient harp which has gone unheard for more than eight centuries. The pin harp lends its name to pinpeat orchestras, which perform ceremonial music of the royal courts and temples in Cambodia [Credit: ABC] The pin harp is shown being played by maidens in the stone reliefs on the walls of the Angkor Wat temple complex. It lends its name to pinpeat orchestras, which perform...

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“Whodunnit” of Irish potato famine solved

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

An international team of scientists reveals that a unique strain of potato blight they call HERB-1 triggered the Irish potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century. A potato specimen from the Kew Garden herbarium, collected in 1847, during the height of the Irish famine. The legend reads “Botrytis infestans”, because it was not known yet that Phytophthora does not belong to the mildew causing Botrytis fungi [Credit: © Marco...

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Phoenician artifacts reveal long-gone paint and gold

Posted: 20 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT

Ancient ivory carvings made by Phoenician artists some 3,000 years ago have long hidden a secret, even while being openly displayed in museums around the world: The sculptures were originally painted with colorful pigments, and some were decorated with gold. This Phoenician sculpture made of ivory was once gilded [Credit: Musée du Louvre/R. Chipault] Researchers based in France and Germany report chemical analyses showing that...

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More on Major Bible era find 'buried' for political reasons

Posted: 20 May 2013 12:30 PM PDT

A mysterious First Temple-era archaeological find under a Palestinian orchard near Bethlehem is increasingly gaining attention — despite attempts to keep it quiet. The pillar is of a type associated with monumental construction during the time of the First Temple in Jerusalem [Credit: Binyamin Tropper/Kfar Etzion Field School] In February, a tour guide leading a group through an underground tunnel in the rural West Bank, not far...

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35,000 year-old camp site unearthed in Kazakhstan

Posted: 20 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT

Archaeologists from the U.S., Germany, Japan and Australia have arrived to Kazakhstan to study a unique Stone Age site in Zhambyl region of Almaty oblast, according to local reports. Excavations at the Maibulak site [Credit: Web] The Maibulak site, located 50km from Almaty, was first noted several years ago by the dean of history, archaeology and ethnology school of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Zhaken...

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'Archaeological genetics' not as old as it at first seems

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT

Genomic analyses suggest that patterns of genetic diversity which indicate population movement may not be as ancient as previously believed, but may be attributable to recent events. This study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Investigative Genetics, based in the Netherlands, is able to genetically characterize geographically separated subpopulations within the country and map them to population movement within the...

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Tourism makes fresh start with Roman Empire in Algeria

Posted: 20 May 2013 10:30 AM PDT

The landscape has remained unchanged since the Roman empire. Soft hills where barley and wheat are cultivated like 2.000 years ago surround Djemila, a city on an Algerian plateau built in 96 AD by the Roman army.  Archaeological site in Djemila, Algeria [Credit: ANSA] The settlement, which was inhabited until the 6th century, is one of many archaeological sites in Algeria, which has an unparalleled heritage in Africa. And...

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Alexandria plans for a new maritime museum

Posted: 20 May 2013 10:15 AM PDT

Coastal cities have their own special character, as their history is entwined with marine life and its secrets.  Marine artefacts are displayed at Alexandria's Maritime Museum [Credit: Waleed Abu al-Khair/Al-Shorfa] In Alexandria, where many museums display the history of Egyptian civilization, one in particular has chosen to focus on the characteristics and history of marine life: the Maritime Museum at the site of the...

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Xiongnu, Great Empire of the Steppes Mongolian Archaeological Excavation Exhibition

Posted: 20 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT

The “Xiongnu, Great Empire of the Steppes Mongolian Archaeological Excavation Exhibition“ is the result of several years of excavation preformed by the Archaeology and History Department of the National Museum of Korea. Xiongnu pottery from Duurlig Nars [Credit: National Museum of Korea] The Huns’ tombs in Duurlig Nars and Khentii Aimag in Mongolia yielded around 100 artefacts including jade disks. Xiongnu tomb #1...

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New study reveals patterns of dinosaur brain development

Posted: 20 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT

A new study conducted at the University of Bristol and published online today in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology sheds light on how the brain and inner ear developed in dinosaurs. Fossil skull of the juvenile specimen of Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki [Credit: Tom Hubner, Niedersachsisches Landesmuseum Hannover] Stephan Lautenschlager from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, together with Tom Hubner from the Niedersachsische...

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Ice Age horse fossil found near Las Vegas

Posted: 20 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT

Bones scratched from a hillside northwest of Las Vegas last year have been traced to an ice age horse that lived and died almost 14,000 years ago. Researchers say this fossil, pulled from the hills north of Las Vegas last year, is the lower jaw and bottom teeth of an extinct ice age horse that roamed the area more than 13,000 years ago [Credit: San Bernadino County Museum] Paleontologist Eric Scott from the San Bernardino...

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Tiny ancient bandicoot shines light on future

Posted: 20 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT

A 20 million-year-old fossil skull identified as a 'pocket-sized' ancestor of the bandicoot will give insights into the future of Australia's modern endangered animals. The 20 million-year-old skull of the extinct Bulungu palara (bottom) is much smaller than the skulls of the modern bandicoots, such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot (above) [Credit: University of Queensland] Paleontologists from The University of Queensland (UQ)...

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Earth's iron core surprisingly weak

Posted: 20 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT

Researchers have used a diamond anvil cell to squeeze iron at pressures as high as 3 million times that felt at sea level to recreate conditions at the center of Earth. The findings could refine theories of how the planet and its core evolved. The massive ball of iron sitting at the center of Earth is not quite as "rock-solid" as has been thought [Credit: Web] Through laboratory experiments, postdoctoral researcher Arianna...

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Scientists explore roots of future tropical rainfall

Posted: 20 May 2013 05:00 AM PDT

How will rainfall patterns across the tropical Indian and Pacific regions change in a future warming world? Climate models generally suggest that the tropics as a whole will get wetter, but the models don't always agree on where rainfall patterns will shift in particular regions within the tropics. The Indonesian region as it is now (left), and as it was during the last glacial period when the Sunda Shelf was exposed (right)...

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Hydro power frenzy 'threatens Carpathian mountains'

Posted: 20 May 2013 04:00 AM PDT