Archaeology News: August 12, 2011

Jerusalem Tunnel Provides Glimpse of Jewish Revolt
The excavation of a 2,000-year-old drainage channel running beneath Jerusalem’s City of David is providing a startling glimpse into the realities of the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 C.E.). According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Jewish rebels used the tunnels to hide from Roman forces attempting to crush the rebellion.

Researchers study mammoth bones found on Kansas farm
Researchers say that by examining mammoth bones that were recently found in west-central Kansas, they hope to determine how the animal died and learn more about the earliest humans in the region.

Salme Yields Evidence of Oldest Sailing Ship in Baltic Sea
Evidence of the earliest-known use of sails in the Baltic region has been found during the excavation of a ship buried with 35 warriors and nobles on the Estonian island of Saaremaa. The ship, which dates to 750 A.D., had a keel and irregular rows of strong rivets.

William & Mary archaeologists find possible slave building at heart of campus
Archaeologists at the College of William and Mary have unearthed part of the brick foundation of a building likely used by slaves in Colonial times. Officials at the Williamsburg school said the remnants of the structure were uncovered next to the Wren ...

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology: A Museum Exhibit That Merges
The Ark of the Covenant, together with the most memorable props from the four Indiana Jones movies, were on display behind Plexiglas at the Montréal Science Centre, part of an exhibit entitled “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology.

Making a choice: A Levels to archaeology
Many children grow up dreaming of becoming an archaeologist. However, for academic Jenni French, it wasn't until she stumbled across the subject when choosing her A-levels that she really fell in love with it.

Montana teachers learn archaeology at Nevada City dig site
Amber Dobb, an elementary school teacher in Florence, uses a screen to sift dirt while searching for artifacts at the Richards Cabin in Nevada City on Wednesday as part of Project Archaeology, a program giving teachers hands-on learning opportunities.

Archaeology dig seeks clues to Nebraska's prehistoric past
Matt Marvin and Steve Sarich are digging and sifting. Marvin is using a shovel to remove dirt from their excavation site, a half centimeter at a time. Sarich is carefully sifting the dirt through a screen. They’re standing amidst grass, weeds and dead reeds, fighting flies, ticks and sometimes 100 degree heat in the middle of the drained Hugh Butler Lake, north of McCook.

Joukowsky Institute
The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & The Ancient World is housed in the newly refurbished Rhode Island Hall at the center of the campus of Brown University. A Historic Greek Revival building, the structure has gained new life with the insertion of a new interior and programatic layout in a way that contrasts the building’s normative exterior.

Vladimir Putin visits underwater city
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became an archaeologist for one day. When visiting the excavation site on the Taman Peninsula washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the head of the Russian government helped to clean the soil off an Ancient Greek vessel, admired the discovered artefacts and lifted two amphoras from the bottom of the Taman Bay.

Fort Pierce Library presenting 'Ancient Medicine In Florida' lecture on Aug. 23
Dr. Rachel Wentz, director of the East Central Region of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, will be examining the evidence for medicine at the 7000-year-old site of Windover in Florida, which produced the well-preserved remains of 168 individuals.

Shipwrecks in Thunder Bay offer sanctuary for divers
"When you dive a wreck in Florida, mostly what you'll see is a pile of ballast stones and scattered pieces," said Gandulla, who trained in underwater archaeology at Eastern Carolina University.

Jerusalem Tunnel Provides Glimpse of Jewish Revolt
The excavation of a 2,000-year-old drainage channel running beneath Jerusalem’s City of David is providing a startling glimpse into the realities of the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 C.E.). According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Jewish rebels used the tunnels to hide from Roman forces attempting to crush the rebellion.