Archaeology News articles

CNSR archaeologist Stéphen Rostain and his colleagues described evidence of an agrarian Amazonian culture that began more than 2,000 years ago; the authors described more than 6,000 earthen platforms distributed in a geometric pattern connected by roads and intertwined with agricultural landscapes and river drainages in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, in the eastern foothills of the Andes. Such extensive early development in the Upper Amazon resembles similar Maya urban systems in Central America.                                                   From: SCI NEWS Visit Website  https://www.weaversnest.org/  for more information on Archaeology and History.                                           ...

Researchers have discovered a miles-long wall around an oasis in Saudi Arabia’s North Arabian Desert. Built about 4,000 years ago, the fortification surrounds Khaybar, one of the area’s oldest oases—fertile, green regions of the arid desert. It likely helped defend against both nomadic raiders and natural threats.                        The team measured the wall by comparing field surveys and remote sensing data with architectural studies, per a statement from France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). After performing radiocarbon dating on charcoal fragments found beneath and inside the wall, they concluded the structure was built between 2250 and 1950 B.C.E., according to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. From:  Smithsonian Magazine Visit Website  https://www.weaversnest.org/  for more information on Archaeology and History.  ...

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a series of rock tombs in Saqara, 1,800-4,800 years old, that contained colorful mummy masks, plates, statues, and artwork. The joint Egyptian and Japanese archaeological mission with Kanazawa University has succeeded in uncovering a rock tomb, a number of architectural elements, burials and archaeological finds of different historical eras, inside the Catacomb tombs in the Saqara region. They even found a statue of Harpocrates, the child god of silence, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.                               From:  Good News Network Visit Website  https://www.weaversnest.org/  for more information on Archaeology and History.                                              ...

CAIRO, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that a tomb dated to between 2649 and 2150 B.C. has been discovered in Saqqara by a team of Japanese and Egyptian archaeologists. Mustafa Waziri of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the remains of an adult, who was interred wearing a colored mask, and the burial of a small child were found in the rock-cut tomb. In this area of the necropolis, the researchers also uncovered burials from Egypt’s Late Period (712–332 B.C.) and the Ptolemaic period (304–30 B.C.), as well as an 18th Dynasty (1550–1295 B.C.) coffin containing a well-preserved alabaster vessel. Two terracotta statues of the goddess Isis; a terracotta statue of Harpocrates, a child deity; amulets; pottery models; and ostraca bearing hieratic inscriptions were also recovered. To read about another discovery from Saqqara, go to "Old Kingdom Tomb," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2019.                      ...

WULONG DISTRICT, CHINA—A set of 23 wooden slips has been found among the more than 600 artifacts recovered from a 2,000-year-old waterlogged wooden chamber tomb in southwestern China by researchers from the Chongqing Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, according to a Live Science report. Characters written on the wooden slips, which each measure about an inch wide and four inches long, suggest the set is related to the traditional Chinese astronomical calendar known as the Tiangan Dizhi, or “Ten Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches.” This system was established during the Shang Dynasty, between about 1600 and 1050 B.C. Perforations on the edges of each slip suggest that they had been tied together. It is not clear how the slips would have been used, but archaeologists think that slips such as these may have been used to represent particular years in a 60-year cycle. To read about other finds from Western Han Dynasty tombs, go to "Mirror, Mirror."       ...