Sunday Round Up: Top Archaeology And Anthropology Stories For 1/9/2011

Iran to Keep British Museum’s Cyrus Cylinder Three More Months

The British Museum said it will prolong its loan to Iran of an ancient artifact for three more months, meeting a request by the Iranian authorities.

The Cyrus Cylinder, which went on show at the National Museum of Iran in September and was due back Jan. 16, will stay in Tehran until April 15 -- after late March celebrations of the Iranian New Year (Norouz), the museum’s press office said in an e-mailed statement.~Bloomberg

New technology gives on-site assessments in archaeology

The ability to tell the difference between crystals that formed naturally and those formed by human activity can be important to archaeologists in the field. This can be a crucial bit of information in determining the ancient activities that took place at a site, yet archaeologists often wait for months for the results of laboratory tests.

Now, however, an international team of physicists, archaeologists and materials scientists has developed a process that can tell in a matter of minutes the origin of samples thousands of years old. ~Spero News

Archaeologists Unearthed Byzantine Mosaic Painting in Syria Director of Hama Archaeology Department Abdulkader Farzat said the painting, which is 375 cm-long and 120 cm-wide, carries numerous geometrical shapes and decorations. For his part, Director of Apamea Archaeology Department Nader Lada said the painting includes drawings taking the shape of squares, each five of which are positioned above each other vertically. ~Global Arab Network

Polish archaeologists score another success Rock engravings, ancient burial sites and several dozen terracotta figurines were discovered by a group of Polish archaeologists in the north-eastern part of Sudan by the Red Sea, “Rzeczpospolita” reports. The research was carried out by scientists from the Archaeology and Ethnology Institute of the Polish Academy of Science, Poznan branch. ~Polish Market Online edition Archeology museum to be created on ruins of unknown state in Azerbaijan A museum will be created in the territory of the Oguz region of Azerbaijan. The exposition of the museum will include the ruins of an unknown state, said Nasib Mukhtarov, chief of the Sheki, Gakh, Oguz expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan. ~News.AZ

Cultural riches: ‘Preserve heritage sites to woo tourists’

Preservation of Indus and Gandhara civilizations as well as cultural sites, artifacts and traditional handicrafts is an encouraging factor to rope in scholars and tourists from all over the world.

This was discussed on the second day of a conference on ‘Cultural Heritage Issues in Pakistan: Archeology, Museum and Conservation’ on Friday.~The Express Tribune

Historic town site access to be restricted

Starting Monday, the National Park Service will restrict access to the historic town site of St. Thomas near the northern tip of Lake Mead for a tamarisk removal project.

The town site and its access road will be closed on weekdays throughout the project, which is expected to last about a month. ~Las Vegas Review Journal

Kilwinning dig inspires Paisley project AN ARCHAEOLOGIST who worked on the Kilwinning Dig is organising a community project in Paisley. Claire Casey, an archaeologist who worked on the Kilwinning Abbey dig, is now working on Paisley’s Past.~Irvine Herald Kilwinning Abbey and Archaeological Dig

Culture curious Anthropologists could find fulfilling careers in getting to understand societies from within, by observing and participating in their daily lives.~The Star Online Everyone digs in as archaeologists uncover a wealth of history WHEN an old sewerage pipe near the centre of Ballarat needed replacing last year, archaeologists were called in for what was expected to be a routine dig of the surrounds.  But what they uncovered surprised and delighted heritage experts - a trove of more than a thousand gold rush artefacts. ~The Age

Is the Bible in error about the city of Ai, recorded in Joshua 7-8?

The location of Joshua's Ai has been a matter of mystery and controversy since the beginnings of archaeological research in Palestine. Most archaeologists locate Joshua's Ai at et-Tell, .6 miles east of our site. At et-Tell, there is no indication of occupation at the time of Joshua. This has led scholars to reject the historicity of the account of the capture of Ai, the Conquest in general, the Exodus by implication, and ultimately, the Gospel of God's Son. ~Bible Archaeology