Explorator 18.51 ~ April 17, 2016

Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri,
Hernan Astudillo, David Critchley, Bob Heuman, Barbara Saylor Rodgers,
Frank MacKay, Richard Campbell,Richard C. Griffiths,and
Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week (as always hoping I have
left no one out).
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EARLY HOMINIDS
================================================================
I thought we knew Neanderthals used toothpicks a couple of years ago:

http://www.livescience.com/54407-neanderthals-used-prehistoric-toothpicks.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3540727/Did-Neanderthals-use-toothpicks-Traces-wood-stuck-ancient-plaque-reveal-relatives-table-manners.html

Next suggestion for the demise of Neanderthals: they caught diseases from sapiens:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-neanderthals-infected-diseases-africa-humans.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uoc-nmh040816.php
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160412-what-really-happened-when-we-met-neanderthals
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/apr/10/neanderthals-may-have-died-of-diseases-carried-by-humans-from-africa?subid=16450490&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/neanderthals-might-have-contracted-diseases-from-early-humans-that-helped-make-them-extinct-a6978426.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/15/health/humans-responsible-for-neanderthal-extinction-by-transferring-diseases/index.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-diseases-may-have-doomed-neanderthals-180958735/

A new hypothesis on fire use by early humans:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-hypothesis-human-ancestors-advantage.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160412160555.htm
http://unews.utah.edu/the-pyrophilic-primate/

Latest naledi controversy:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/debate-erupts-over-strange-new-human-species/

================================================================
AFRICA
================================================================
Review of Hammer, *The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu*:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/meet-the-bad-ass-librarians-of-timbuktu/2016/04/15/389e7010-0025-11e6-9d36-33d198ea26c5_story.html

More on dodo extinction:

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160408-how-humanity-first-killed-the-dodo-then-lost-it-as-well

================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
================================================================
A barque station near Aswan from the time of Hatshepsut :

http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticleNews.aspx?ArtID=103537

Some colossal Egyptian statues have arrived safely at the British Museum:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/199408/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Colossal-ancient-Egyptian-statues-arrive-safely-in.aspx

Pondering the question of whether Jews were slaves in Egypt:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.713849

… and more discussion of Stars of David on Egyptian temples:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/dispelling-rumors-egypt-says-stars-at-ancient-temple-not-new-not-jewish/

Rethinking a 19th century building in Cairo:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/43/199331/Heritage/Islamic/Cairo-building-turns-out-to-be-th-century-theatre,.aspx

More on the finds at Gebel el Silsila:

http://www.ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/14431592.Hereford_man_part_of_new_discovery_at_Egyptian_site/

Remains of a 6th millennium BCE village in Kurdistan:

http://en.mehrnews.com/news/115674/Relics-of-ancient-six-millennia-old-village-uncovered

Some Hittite lions from Sorgun:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-mystery-of-hittite-lions-.aspx?pageID=238&nid=97807&NewsCatID=375

Plenty of coverage of the find of the site of a Roman-era glass factory:

http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4192
http://www.livescience.com/54379-israel-oldest-glass-factory-discovered.html
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/ancient-roman-glass-kilns-unearthed-in-israel-160411.htm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-oldest-glass-kilns-point-to-ancient-silicon-valley/
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Oldest-kilns-and-Judean-glass-remains-in-country-unearthed-near-Haifa-450873
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/65501/archaeological-missing-link-proves-israel-was-world-center-ancient-glass-trade-jewish-world/
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/ancient-glass-works-prove-israel-was-world-glass-production-center/2016/04/11/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/04/11/israeli-archaeologists-announce-sensational-discovery-of-oldest-ancient-glassworks-ever-found-in-the-country/
http://artdaily.com/news/86474/The-oldest-glassworks-ever-found-in-Israel-was-a-world-center-for-glass-production-in-antiquity-
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0412/Oldest-glass-factory-in-Israel-dates-to-4th-century-AD
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.713942
http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/04/12/ancient-kilns-prove-israel-was-leader-in-roman-era-glass-making/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3533731/

Handwriting analysis is suggesting that Biblical texts may have been written down earlier than previously thought:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-analysis-clues-dating-testament-texts.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/afot-hap041116.php
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160412110006.htm
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/04/05/1522200113.abstract
http://www.livescience.com/54368-bible-compiled-early.html
http://news.discovery.com/history/religion/bible-was-written-earlier-ancient-notes-suggest-160411.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/world/middleeast/new-evidence-onwhen-bible-was-written-ancient-shopping-lists.html
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-look-at-ancient-shards-suggests-bible-even-older-than-thought/
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Old-Testament-may-be-older-than-previously-thought-hi-tech-analysis-indicates-451004
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4789745,00.html
http://bigstory.ap.org/1409f25101b04492b9695990be062c2a
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/04/12/handwriting-study-suggests-biblical-texts-might-have-been-written-earlier-than-many-scholars-thought/
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/handwriting-study-finds-clues-biblical-texts-written-38329128
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ancient-handwriting-may-shed-light-on-age-of-bible/
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/12/bible-age-tel-aviv-university-findings
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.713885
http://www.latercera.com/noticia/tendencias/2016/04/659-676124-9-la-primera-escritura-de-textos-biblicos-pudo-ser-hace-600-anos-ac.shtml
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3534317/

… some reactions:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/12/does-this-ancient-handwriting-prove-the-bible-s-age.html
http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=708

Three Palestinians were arrested smuggling a statue of ‘Herod’s lover’:

http://m.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Three-Palestinians-arrested-smuggling-statue-of-King-Herods-lover-to-Israel-450977#article=6018MjJFNjU2OTRERTc3MEUxMzhCQzYxQ0QzNDAzMDlDRjg=
http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/busted-palestinian-smugglers-caught-statue-%E2%80%98king-herod%E2%80%99s-lover%E2%80%99-828268

… but confer (with photo) to question the identity:

https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771079

I think we mentioned the Maccabees Project:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/04/12/project-attempts-understand-maccabees/5zz0EwooWFR3ZY7FD4uaKN/story.html

Feature on sanitation in Mesopotamia:

http://asorblog.org/2016/04/06/trash-and-toilets-in-mesopotamia-sanitation-and-early-urbanism/

Turkey is looking for the skull of an Ottoman architect:

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36015767

Some interesting early modern maps of Jerusalem came to auction:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/04/12/nineteenth-century-jerusalem-maps-shed-light-on-the-holy-city-once-shrouded-in-mystery/
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4790270,00.html

More on that Byzantine church find in Gaza:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bulldozed-for-a-shopping-mall-what-might-happen-to-these-church-ruins-13700/

On Babylonian knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-year-journey-classroom.html
http://news.yale.edu/2016/04/11/3800-year-journey-classroom-classroom

One of Saddam Hussein’s palaces is being turned into a museum:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/12/saddam-husseins-palace-will-become-a-museum-in-iraq/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160411-iraq-saddam-palace-basra-art-museum/
http://www.newsweek.com/palace-former-iraqi-dictator-saddam-hussein-transformed-museum-447270

Interesting item on 666:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/morgan-freeman-mark-of-the-beast_us_570be32de4b0885fb50da7e2

Turkey wants to do more for cultural heritage:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/superpower-turkey-seeks-to-protect-cultural-heritage.aspx?pageID=238&nid=97702&NewsCatID=375

Reassessing the damage ISIL caused in Palmyra:

http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2016/apr/17/pieces-picked-up-in-palmyra-20160417/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/catastrophe-say-experts-after-seeing-palmyra-museum/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/16/experts-give-new-details-of-is-destruction-of-syri/

… with the latest photos:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2016/apr/08/palmyra-after-islamic-state-isis-visual-guide

… and suggestions that Palmyra should not be rebuilt:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/apr/11/palmyra-isis-syria-restored-3d-printers-vandalism

… and that there are mines all over the site:

http://www.dw.com/en/deadly-sightseeing-the-mine-fields-of-ancient-palmyra/a-19182311

… and why it will ‘live on’:

http://www.apollo-magazine.com/palmyras-legacy-is-everywhere-and-isis-could-never-have-erased-it/?

Meanwhile, ISIL apparently burst through a section of the wall of Nineveh:

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/ISIS-Threat/ISIS-ruins-part-of-the-ancient-Assyrian-city-wall-near-Mosul-451239

… and there are reports they actually destroyed the gate:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-destroys-2000-year-old-gate-of-god-in-ninevah-mosul-iraq-161707/

The Vatican and Orthodox churches are cooperating in restoring damaged churches:

http://eponymousflower.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-vatican-and-orthodox-churches-work.html

Lecture on looting and destruction of antiquities as a calculated strategy:

http://news.yale.edu/2016/04/13/looting-and-destruction-antiquities-calculated-strategy

… and a tool of war:

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/04/13/antiquities-as-tools-of-war/

… and an ‘illegal Syrian antiquity’ showed up in a London shop:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1688008.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2016_04_16

… while the US Senate imposed a ban on the import of Syrian antiquities:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/middleeast/senate-votes-to-ban-imports-of-syrian-art-and-antiquities.html

More on the damage at the St Elian monastery:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/04/06/christian-saints-bones-unearthed-in-monastery-destroyed-by-isis.html

================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
================================================================
Plenty of coverage of a major villa find in Wiltshire (this story is still trickling out):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-36062538
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/16/unparalleled-discovery-of-roman-villa-beneath-wiltshire-garden/
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/17/amazing-find-roman-villa
http://www.basildonrecorder.co.uk/news/national/14432759.Farmhouse_owner_discovers__well_preserved__Roman_villa_in_his_grounds/
http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/journalnewsindex/14432871.Tisbury_farmhouse_owner_discovers__well_preserved__Roman_villa_in_his_grounds/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3543938/Farmhouse-owner-discovers-preserved-Roman-villa-grounds.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/roman-villa-found-house-largest-ever-discovered-uk_uk_5710b3dee4b0dc55ceea5469

… and some speculation as to ownership already:

http://news.sky.com/story/1679879/was-unearthed-villa-home-to-roman-emperor

More finds from Phalero (however it is transliterated) might be connected to the Cylon affair:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-ancient-mass-graves-greece.html
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/ancient-mass-graves-discovered-in-greece-160415.htm
http://www.livescience.com/54432-mass-grave-unearthed-in-greece.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/04/15/archaeologists-may-have-found-the-graves-of-supporters-of-ancient-greek-tyrant-cylon.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/15/newly-discovered-mass-graves-could-be-filled-with-an-ancient-greek-tyrants-followers/
http://www.ekathimerini.com/207941/gallery/ekathimerini/life/ancient-mass-graves-found-in-athens-seen-as-significant-discovery
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/04/14/ancient-grave-with-80-bodies-found-near-athens-may-be-linked-to-cylonian-affair/
http://m.france24.com/en/20160414-ancient-mass-graves-discovered-greece
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3540584/Have-murdered-followers-Cylon-Skeletons-80-ancient-men-hands-bound-heads-belong-7th-Century-Greek-rebels.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Evidence of a vast wine-making concern at Vagnari:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-roman-imperial-leaders-wine-empire.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160411082833.htm

Police looking for guns came across antiquities near Enna:

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36055120
http://blognotizie.info/179704/archeologia-reperti-sequestrati-in-casa-pregiudicato-enna.html

New digs are going on at Bath:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-36045817
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Bath-archaeological-digs-start-uncover-hidden/story-29104616-detail/story.html
http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Archaeologists-begin-digging-hidden-Roman-baths/story-29104193-detail/story.html#ixzz45ilkMDmb

Looking for Roman remains in Gloucester:

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Archaeologists-search-Roman-remains-city/story-29096865-detail/story.html

Latest feature mentioning the possible redating of the eruption of Vesuvius:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-features-luxuries-wealthy-percent-ancient.html

… and a feature on Pompeii that seems to be hyping something:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160408-pompeii-roman-vesuvius-eruption-disaster/

A profile sort of thing on Mary Beard:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/fashion/mary-beard-against-internet-trolling.html

… and one on Danielle Allen:

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/2016/05/the-egalitarian

What Chris Renaud is up to:

https://www.carthage.edu/live/news/10505-classics-professor–national-geographic-expert

What Reviel Netz is up to:

http://news.uark.edu/articles/34262

Nice protest by Classics profs in France:

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2016/04/classics-professors-in-france-protest-education-reform-in-style.phtml

There’s going to be a pile of reenactors at Maryport:

http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/people/Romans-take-over-Maryport-for-the-weekend-790c4b79-621d-47df-9b32-7f076bc17232-ds

… and a major cavalry reenactment at Hadrian’s Wall:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-world-s-biggest-roman-cavalry-battle-re-enactment-will-be-staged-at-hadrian-s-wall-next-year-a6977146.html
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/09/hadrians-wall-roman-cavalry

Pondering the legacy of ancient Greek politics:

http://blog.oup.com/2016/04/ancient-greek-political-legacy/

… and what ancient Rome can tell us about modern politics:

http://www.wpr.org/what-can-ancient-rome-teach-us-about-modern-politics

Nice infographic on assorted Homeric questions:

http://blog.oup.com/2016/04/homer-inspiration-and-controversy/

On Greek/Egyptian interactions:

http://blog.oup.com/2016/04/greek-egyptian-interactions-literature/

Latest essay on Lucretius:

http://www.addisonindependent.com/201604lucretius-experience-and-reality

Homerathon coverage:

http://www.theshorthorn.com/classic-literature-lovers-challenge-homerathon-together/collection_b09bc540-028c-11e6-8b60-57ce5ad85dce.html
http://www.salemnews.com/news/lifestyles/interest-days-for-marathon-reading-of-homer-s-iliad/article_509adb00-900e-550d-833d-bbb737e013a4.html
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/department-of-classics-reads-epic-poem-nonstop-for-two-days/article_87e588c4-0166-11e6-9314-5340f18709a3.html

Some NJCL coverage:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/west-essex/columns/caldwell-west-caldwell-school-district-in-the-news/articles/james-caldwell-inducts-19-into-national-latin-hon

The impact of Alexander the Great on art:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/16/how-alexander-the-great-changed-the-art-world-forever.html

Features/reviews/etc of Heaney’s Aeneid VI:

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/14/474265657/seamus-heaneys-translation-of-the-aeneid-gets-posthumous-publication
http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21696919-music-underworld

On Caroline Alexander’s Iliad translation:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/a-womans-version-of-the-trojan-war/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20160410_Culture_House_13

We’ve had this carnyx reconstruction before:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article71289162.html

Last week we labelled this as a review of Mayor’s *Amazons* … it’s actually feature on Amazons by A. Mayor (apologies!):

http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?cat=24

More on that Etruscan inscription:

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2016/04/13/archaeologists-unearth-rare-etruscan-text-at-italy-site

More on those curse tablets in an Athenian burial:

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/curse-tablets-discovered-in-2400-year-old-grave-160405.htm

—–
Latest reviews from BMCR:

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html

Visit our blog:

http://rogueclassicism.com/
================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
================================================================
The cave art in Chauvet Cave-Pont D’Arc is older than previously thought:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-radio-carbon-chauvet-pont-darc-cave-art.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-timeline-zeroes-creation-chauvet-cave-paintings-180958754/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3534242/The-incredible-history-Chauvet-Pont-d-Arc-Radiocarbon-dating-reveals-early-humans-shared-painted-cave-BEARS-30-000-years-ago.html

Reconstruction of an 11 000 years bp headdress is shedding light on hunter/gatherer rituals:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-headdress-reconstruction-hunter-gatherer-rituals.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160413151115.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uoy-hrt041316.php
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/04/2016/first-scientific-analysis-of-oldest-known-shamanic-costume-in-europe

Vinca culture remains near Alba Julia:

http://www.sebesinfo.ro/asezare-umana-cu-o-vechime-de-circa-7000-de-ani-descoperita-pe-traseul-autostrazii-sebes-turda-8475.html

3000/4000 bce (maybe) burials halt construction in St Athan:

http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/14424020.Discovery_of_skeletal_remains_halt_housing_development/

A 7th/8th century burial ground on MOD property in Wiltshire:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-36052151
http://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/14431438.Archaeological_find_unearthed_during_Army_homes_development/
http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/journalnewsindex/14430354._Unexpected__archaeological_finds_unearthed_on_Salisbury_Plain/

I’ll let you decide what’s up with this Bosnian ‘sphere’ discovery:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-archaeologist-bosnia-stone-sphere-massive.html
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/giant-rock-sphere-linked-to-mysterious-civilization-160414.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/11/mysterious-giant-sphere-unearthed-in-forest-divides-opinion/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3527997/Is-rock-proof-lost-European-civilisation-Archaeologist-claims-spherical-boulder-world-s-oldest-man-sphere-used-healing.html

Remains of a 17th century plague victim from an Edinburgh school yard:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-36034906
http://www.thenational.scot/news/17th-century-skeleton-discovered-in-edinburgh-school-grounds.16280

Plans to investigate the Clent Hills:

http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/14427991.Archaeologists_aim_to_discover_what_lies_beneath_the_Clent_Hills/

A silk dress from a 17th century Dutch shipwreck:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/dutch-divers-discover-400-year-old-dress-in-a-sunken-ship/
http://www.cnet.com/news/shipwrecked-silk-dress-survives-400-years-under-water/

Trying to figure out a naked woman engraving on Duart castle:

http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/experts-puzzled-by-naked-woman-carving-on-duart-castle-1-4096169

Pondering Viking motivations:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/vikings-may-have-first-taken-seas-find-women-slaves

I think we had this Viking jewellery thing a while ago:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3533966/Were-early-Vikings-HIPSTERS-Iron-Age-Norse-women-wore-bizarre-jewellery-foreign-designs-stand-out.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

The Bronze Age battle in Germany story is still making the rounds:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3509388/Battered-skulls-shattered-bones-arrows-lodged-skeletons-Remains-Germany-point-earliest-largest-brutal-Bronze-Age-battle-seen.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

… as is the Vasco da Gama shipwreck:

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/14/shipwreck-hunter-discovers-500-year-old-treasures/

More on Orkney deer being brought by ship:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/apr/06/riddle-of-the-red-deer-orkney-deer-arrived-by-neolithic-ship-study-reveals

—–
Archaeology in Europe Blog:

http://archaeology-in-europe.blogspot.com/

================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
================================================================

Studying paleolithic tools from the Sungir site:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-archaeologists-tools-sungarian.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/lmsu-vi041416.php

Paleolithic items from Viet Nam:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/11/c_135268559.htm
http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/34260/stone-age-artifacts-found-in-vietnam-archeologists

4500 years bp burials from Sichuan:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/17/c_135287267.htm

The stripes on some Mongolian mummies’ shoes were taken to their illogical extreme:

http://www.akipress.com/news%3A575546/
https://www.rt.com/viral/339486-adidas-mummy-mongolia-archaeology/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3537442/Conspiracy-theorists-believe-1-500-year-old-Mongolian-mummy-wearing-Adidas-boots-finally-proof-time-travel-exists.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

An early British boundary stone from Hong Kong:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-year-saiwan-boundary-marker-stone.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/tuoh-1yo040816.php

Digging an ‘Irish settlement’ in Australia:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-archaeologists-home-australia-lost-clachan.html

Liu Yiqian plans on buying more Western antiquities:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/arts/2016/04/16/463570/More-Western.htm
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1936137/chinese-tycoon-liu-yiqian-says-he-wants-add-more-western-art
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3541260/More-Western-art-shopping-list-Chinese-tycoon-Liu.html

Sea level rise threatens sites in Hawaii:

http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/nation-world-news/sea-level-rise-threatens-archaeological-sites-puukohala-puuhonua-o-honaunau

More on new branches of the Silk Road:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/archaeologists-uncover-another-branch-of-the-silk-road/

—–

Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog:

http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:

http://nzarchaeology.blogspot.co.nz/index.html
================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
Searching for remains of a star-shaped fort near Lunenburg:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/lunenburg-academy-archaeology-cary-saint-marys-university-1.3539176

Some guy claims there is yet another Norse site on Newfoundland:

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/possible-3rd-norse-site-near-point-rosee-nl-piques-archeologists-interest/ar-BBrBHly

An early 19th century well from St Augustine:

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2016-04-12/coquina-well-walls-found-mill-top-excavation#.Vw6Cl0f52Iv
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-04-13/story/coquina-well-walls-found-mill-top-excavation-st-augustine

The Judaculla Rock was vandalized:

http://www.wyff4.com/news/mysterious-ancient-boulder-vandalized-surveillance-images-released/38989374

Interesting feature on the Reservoir Stone Mound:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2016/04/17/01-noble-monument-lost-to-the-ages-to-build-1823-dam.html

Feature on Harvard’s Porcellian Club:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/13/secretive-harvard-club-breaks-225-years-of-silence-to-say-that-admitting-women-could-increase-sexual-misconduct/

Some Franklin ship coverage:

http://www.adn.com/article/20160410/stirring-account-finding-franklins-lost-ship

Georgetown U’s slave legacy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/georgetown-university-search-for-slave-descendants.html?emc=edit_na_20160416&nlid=10296088&ref=cta&_r=0

An Alexandrian shipwreck is popular:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/alexandrians-cant-get-enough-of-this-excavated-18th-century-ship/2016/04/15/80ea7e00-0281-11e6-b823-707c79ce3504_story.html

The federal government has purchased Burnt Corn Pueblo:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/burnt-corn-pueblo-site-in-galisteo-basin-gets-federal-protection/article_1e40369b-74c8-5e94-ab02-5b269f6d866a.html

Pondering sea-level rise and sites in Florida (and elsewhere):

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/16/474395637/what-can-we-learn-from-early-floridians-on-sea-level-rise
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-history-sea-threatens-historic-sites.html

Plenty of Toronto neighbourhoods are built on cemeteries, apparently:

http://www.citynews.ca/2016/04/13/watch-where-you-walk-key-toronto-areas-built-on-cemeteries/

Feature on the SD Archaeological Center:

http://www.valleycenter.com/news/2016-04-14/Valley_Life/SD_Archaeological_Center_turning_out_future_Indian.html

Canada has no strategy to protect shipwrecks from looting:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/shipwrecks-looting-prevention-strategy-1.3533233
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/archeologist-calls-for-national-strategy-to-protect-shipwrecks-from-looting-1.2856112

What Lincoln’s letters reveal:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/abraham-lincoln-fool/?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbooks

Preserving the legacy of Sing Sing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/nyregion/building-a-museum-where-david-berkowitz-did-time-and-james-cagney-spent-it.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel

More on the Wright Brothers’ patent find:

http://www.livescience.com/54409-wright-brothers-missing-patent-found.html

More on that North Carolina Civil War shipwreck:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36033056

================================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
================================================================
A construction crew found the grave of one of Mexico’s first Catholic priests:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-mexico-unearths-spanish-priest-ancient.html
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-mexican-experts-early-burial-colonial.html
http://artdaily.com/news/86564/Mexican-archaeologists-unearth-Spanish-priest-s-ancient-tombstone
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-crew-uncovered-grave-one-mexicos-first-catholic-priests-180958771/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/mexico-priest-grave-spanish-conquest-aztec-archaeology
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/tomb-of-a-16th-century-catholic-priest-found-in-remains-of-aztec-temple/2016/04/15/0aa7800e-0262-11e6-9d36-33d198ea26c5_story.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3538476/Mexican-experts-early-burial-1st-colonial-cathedral.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Interesting holes add to our picture of Nazca:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3537828/Has-puzzle-Nazca-holes-solved-Ancient-spirals-Peruvian-desert-sophisticated-irrigation-system.html

On the role of humans in spreading seeds:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-seeds-human-migration.html

—–
Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Americas Breaking News:

http://goo.gl/1VdeA

Ancient MesoAmerica News:

http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================
Suggestion that STIs led to monogamy:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-sexually-transmitted-infections-peer-pressure.html
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160412-sexually-transmitted-infections-may-have-reshaped-our-lives
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/apr/12/stis-may-have-driven-ancient-humans-to-monogamy-study-says
http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/04/12/ciencia/1460464009_412113.html

A different way to interpret prehistoric footprint remains:

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160414-we-have-found-a-new-way-to-read-prehistoric-footprints

In case you were wondering what it was like to sleep in Elsinore:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/14/design/shakespeare-hamlets-castle-the-spaces/index.html

… or that thing about Eskimo (yes, they used that word) words for snow:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160413151235.htm
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/651637/?sc=c52

More on that first folio found in Scotland:

http://www.livescience.com/54397-shakespeare-first-folio-authenticated.html

… and suggestions what it would be like if Shakespeare had to include acknowledgements:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/04/14/if-william-shakespeare-had-included-acknowledgements/

On the Dutch bulb trade:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-dutch-bulb-garden-depicts-golden.html

Latest claim of a Caravaggio find in an attic:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36024865
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/12/lost-caravaggio-causes-rift-in-art-world
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/13/europe/treasured-french-painting-recovered/index.html
http://m.france24.com/en/20160412-caravaggio-painting-found-french-attic-italian-art
http://m.jpost.com/International/120-million-euro-lost-Caravaggio-discovered-in-French-attic-451063#article=6017RkEyQTI0MkI2RjIxQjMwRUVDQkVGRDMxQjAzMTBCOTM=

The Panama papers and Modigliani:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36015701

… and Picasso:

http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/kiosko/2016/04/08/los-picassos-secretos-y-los-thyssen-en-los-papeles-de-panama/

… and what they reveal about the art market:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/arts/design/what-the-panama-papers-reveal-about-the-art-market.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign

Pondering whether humans are hardwired for war:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3535393/Are-humans-hardwired-war-Expert-discusses-species-violent-achieve-world-peace.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Feature on Rome’s Enlightenment Library:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/the-extremo-files/2016/04/12/inside-italys-enlightenment-library/

Feature on ‘vision technologies’ over the past few hundred years:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/10-bizarre-vision-enhancing-technologies-from-last-1000-years-180958734/

What Jody Joy is up to:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/look-old-stuff-meet-Cambridge-archaeology-curator/story-29098451-detail/story.html

Some descendents of daVinci:

http://www.livescience.com/54381-leonardo-da-vinci-living-relatives-found.html

On conserving a Pollock:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/arts/international/how-to-clean-a-pollock-masterpiece-very-carefully.html

That Spanish castle restoration we mentioned a few weeks ago actually won a prize:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/world/europe/spanish-castles-restoration-called-disaster-by-some-wins-prize.html

I think we mentioned Newton’s Philosopher’s Stone recipe:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/isaac-newton-used-recipe-his-hunt-make-philosophers-stone-180958709/

The Times seems to have covered the Loch Ness Monster a lot:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/arts/design/when-the-loch-ness-monster-wasin-the-times.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign

Review of Bone, *The Curse of Beauty*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/nyregion/the-tragic-life-of-americas-first-supermodel.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbooks
Archaeology Podcast Network:

http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/archyfantasies/
================================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
================================================================
Gothic to Goth:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/nyregion/gothic-to-goth-exploring-the-impact-of-the-romantic-era-in-fashion.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion

Pergamon:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/arts/design/reaching-peak-greek-at-the-met-museum.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mass-invasion-of-greek-art-comes-to-the-new-york-met-1460568224

Picasso:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36015757

Titanic:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/04/12/seven-rare-titanic-artifacts-display-last-time-luxor-casino-las-vegas/82891936/

Maya art:

http://www.newser.com/article/c11e8d3d9b4e4fd08e0f6d2cc38c7881/the-body-animals-and-deities-mayan-art-on-show-in-berlin.html

Alexandria:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-3539616/Secrets-sunken-city-RAF-pilot-ancient-metropolis-sea-Egypt-brought-British-Museum-new-blockbuster-exhibition.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Language of Beauty:

http://www.euronews.com/2016/04/15/the-language-of-beauty-mayan-art-on-show-in-berlin/

Staffordshire Hoard:

http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/news/article/3689/discover_the_staffordshire_hoard_exhibition_comes_to_sandwell

Christian History:

http://www.riposte-catholique.fr/riposte-catholique-blog/eglise-en-france-riposte/agenda-exposition-fourviere-20-siecles-dhistoire-chretienne

Roman Mosaics:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-getty-mosaics-review-20160414-column.html

================================================================
THE TECHY SIDE
================================================================
Using high tech to figure out what happened at the Battle of Culloden:

http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/new-hi-tech-survey-to-uncover-secrets-of-culloden-battle-1-4100207

Latest on scanning mummies:

http://phys.org/news/2016-04-ancient-mummies-modern-technology.html

Visiting El Mirador from afar:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2083848-how-to-explore-guatemalas-mayan-ruins-from-4500-kilometres-away/

================================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
================================================================
Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog:

http://dienekes.blogspot.ca/
================================================================
CLIMATE MATTERS
================================================================
A project to reconstruct climate in Norse settlements in Greenland:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uoma-uag041116.php
http://scienmag.com/umass-amherst-geoscientists-to-reconstruct-climate-at-old-norse-settlements-in-greenland/

================================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
================================================================
Ganges:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/travel/ganges-river-boat-trip.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel

Saint Remy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/t-magazine/travel/travel-saint-remy-provence.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel

Hill of the Star:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/travel/mexico-city-volcanos-aztec.html

Pyramids (etc.):

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2016/04/01/beautiful-photos-world-famous-landmarks/82320498/

Prehistoric sites in Scotland:

http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/the-20-best-prehistoric-sites-to-visit-in-scotland-1-4099100

Taormina:

http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2016-4-15/teatro-greco

Heidelberg:

http://www.dw.com/en/10-reasons-to-love-heidelberg/g-19183006

For tall ship fans:

http://www.syracuse.com/us-news/index.ssf/2016/04/fleet_of_20_tall_ships_to_race_across_great_lakes_this_summer.html

Italian railways:

http://www.italoamericano.org/story/2016-4-14/travel-time

Bardsey:

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160411-the-tiny-island-of-20000-graves

================================================================
CRIME BEAT
================================================================
A tomb raider gang leader in China was sentenced to death:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/tomb-raider-gang-leader-sentenced-to-death-in-china-1.2612247

… more heavy sentences:

http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/04/15/4061s924345.htm

A safe was stolen from one of the Roman catacombs:

http://www.thelocal.it/20160411/safe-stolen-from-one-of-worlds-most-important-catacombs

Latest Anonymous Swiss Collector Culture Crime News:

http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/2016/04/culture-crime-news-4-10-april-2016.html

conflict antiquities:

http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/

anonymous swiss collector:

http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/

Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:

http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/

Looting Matters:

http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/

Illicit Cultural Property:

http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/

SAFE:

http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/

================================================================
REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY
================================================================
Ukraine has recovered some stolen Dutch paintings:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/ukraine-says-stolen-dutch-art-has-been-recovered/

Repatriation is increasing interest in Cambodian antiquity:

http://www.voacambodia.com/content/returned-artifacts-stir-new-interest-in-cambodian-antiquity/3283937.html

================================================================
NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Aethelred coins:

https://www.historytoday.com/kate-wiles/coins-%C3%A6thelred-unready

On beards on ancient coins:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/04/a-diversity-of-beards-on-coins-ancient-to-modern

Continuing the collecting of Julio Claudians:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2016/04/struggle-for-succession-continues-ancients-today.html

Horses on ancient coins:

http://www.coinweek.com/ancient-coins/coinweek-ancient-coin-series-horses-ancient-coins/

Latest e-Sylum:

http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v19n15.html

…and the one which should appear later today:

http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v19n16.html

————————
Ancient Coin Collecting:

http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coins:

http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/

Coin Week:

http://www.coinweek.com/
================================================================
PERFORMANCES AND THEATRE-RELATED
================================================================
Vivaldi:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/arts/music/review-an-all-vivaldi-program-with-a-twist-or-tw.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fmusic

Nathan the Wise:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/theater/review-nathan-the-wise-brings-a-morality-tale-to-today.html

Hamilton:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/us/politics/success-of-hamilton-may-have-saved-hamilton-on-the-10-bill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Richard II will be performed in Parliament:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36048491

================================================================
OBITUARIES
================================================================
William L. O’Neill:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/books/william-l-oneill-a-historian-who-wrote-about-radicals-dies-at-80.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign

================================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
================================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:

http://archaeologychannel.org/audio-main-menu-cat/audio-news-list/2413-audio-news-from-archaeologica-3-apr-2016-9-apr-2016
================================================================
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
================================================================
(send in your notices!)
================================================================
GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS
================================================================
Archaeology Magazine News Page:

http://www.archaeology.org/news/

About.com Archaeology:

http://archaeology.about.com/

Ancient Digger:

http://www.ancientdigger.com/

Archaeology Briefs:

http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/

Past Horizons:

http://www.pasthorizons.com/

Stonepages:

http://www.stonepages.com/news/

Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:

http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/

Time Machine:

http://heatherpringle.wordpress.com/
================================================================
PODCASTS/VODCASTS
================================================================
Archaeosoup:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch

The Book and the Spade:

http://www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm
================================================================
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================================================================
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================================================================
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