Archaeology News: January 4, 2013

Renowned archaeologist SR Rao passes away

India’s renowned archaeologist and scholar Professor SR Rao passed away on Thursday at his residence in Jaynagar, Bangalore.

Rao had two major path-breaking excavations to his credit, namely the Harappan port of Lothal and the submerged city Dwarka of Lord Krishna.

Dr Rao had carried out excavation work at north Gujarat’s Siddhpur based Rudramahal site amid protests of local Muslims. He had discovered a mandir within the structure of converted mosque.

Source: Niticentral

Bulgarian Archaeologists Discover Greek Temples of Poseidon and Priapus

Archaeologists in Bulgaria have uncovered two temples honoring Gods of Greek mythology, in the Black Sea town of Sozopol. The temples are said to be in honor of the Greek Gods Poseidon and Priapus, and the discovery of an extremely well preserved altar to the Greek god Poseidon has been located.

Archaeologist Todd Surovell to Speak on Photo Research in Mongolia

Archaeologist Todd Surovell, interim director of the Frison Institute of Anthropology at the University of Wyoming, will give a presentation on his ethnoarchaeological project Saturday at the James Lee Community Center.

Surovell is studying the Dukha nomadic reindeer herders of the Khövsgöl Province of Mongolia near the border with Siberia. In the summer of 2012, he mapped people performing their daily activities, an approach that differs from the traditional method of mapping material remains of the archaeological record. For the project, people were photographed from a variety of angles every two minutes for a month, and time-lapse photography and photogrammetry was used to map the spatial distribution of genders, ages, activities, and equipment in exterior spaces.

The talk will take place at the next meeting of the Friends of Fairfax County Archaeology and Cultural Resources, scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Urbanites Room of the James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church.

Source: Falls Church News Press

Archaeologists rush to save relics in Danjiangkou

Chinese archaeologists are rushing to collect relics in Danjiangkou, an area expected to be cleared and flooded in 2014 to store water for China's massive water-diversion project. The Henan provincial cultural relics bureau said that since an emergency salvage program was launched seven years ago, excavations have been carried out in 123 archeological sites covering 310,000 square meters and 35,000 items have been unearthed.

Source: Global Times

Archaeologists find 800 year old skeletons in Mexico

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico found in the center of the country, skeletons of 13 persons, children and adults, estimated to have lived approximately 800 years ago. The discovery occurred when archaeologists supervised the installation of a new drainage system in Cholula, a town about 120 kilometers from Mexico City, the capital.

Stone Figure: Proof That Christians Influenced Mecca?

A new discovery in Yemen may prove that a Christian church existed there and influenced Mecca around the time of the prophet Muhammad, the Daily Mail reports. Paul Yule, an archaeologist from Germany, found the stone carving of a Christian figure in the city of Zafar and dated it to about 530AD. He says evidence from other sites in Zafar indicate that it was home to a vast Arab tribal confederation that ruled even Mecca, about 581 miles to the north.

Chinese archaeologists excavate 3500 kgs of ancient coins

About 3,500 kilograms of ancient coins dating back to around early first millennia AD have been excavated in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The coins were found in three millennia-old coin pits in the ancient town of Huoluochaideng in Ordos City after police cracked three theft cases, Lian Jilin, a researcher with the regional Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said.

Mexican archaeologists have found 60 arrowheads made in the period from 3000 to 4500 years ago.

This time was marked by rapid migration of peoples to the territory of present-day Mexico, resulting in formation of many new settlements. The find was made in the state of Sinaloa, a region known for its petroglyphs - ancient images carved in stone. According to researchers, the new findings may help locate settlements of the ancient people who left the petroglyphs. Besides the arrowheads, scientists were able to find several burial sites dating, possibly, to the 8th – 13th centuries.

Source: The Voice of Russia