Archaeology News: March 11, 2013

Turkish minister criticizes archaeology excavations

Archaeologists around Turkey are not taking their job seriously enough, Tourism and Culture Minister Ömer Çelik has said, according to daily Hürriyet. Çelik made the comments in an interview with Der Spiegel Magazine at the Berlin International Tourism Bourse, a well-known travel trade fair. German archeologists have been overseeing excavations at Göbekli Tepe, he said, adding that a total of 11,000 sculptures went missing from the site in 2010. “I am not accusing them of stealing, however, this is evidence that they are not giving sufficient importance to security issues.”

Cultural Anthropology Goes Full-OA!

The Society for Cultural Anthropology (a section of the American Anthropological Association) is excited to announce a groundbreaking publishing initiative. With the support of the AAA, the influential journal of the SCA, Cultural Anthropology, will become available open access, freely available to everyone in the world. Starting with the first issue of 2014, CA will provide world-wide, instant, free (to the user), and permanent access to all of our content (as well as ten years of our back catalog).

Famed Viking 'sunstone' did exist, believe scientists

Researchers who have spent three years poring over a cloudy crystal discovered in the wreck of an Elizabethan ship sunk off the Channel Islands believe they have proved that it could be the substance described by the Norsemen as helping to locate the sun when obscured by cloud. The so-called sunstone has long been the subject of scientific intrigue after it was described in one Icelandic saga as a magical gem which, when held up to sky, would reveal the position of the sun even before dawn or after sunset.

Ancient city Troy to have own museum

There is huge potential for further excavation at the site, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University academic Rüstem Aslan told Anatolia news agency. “For the past 15 years, everyone has been discussing the dream of a Troy museum. The construction of the museum will start soon.”

Fort St. Joseph Museum, WMU, offer archaeology camp

Western Michigan University and the Fort St. Joseph Museum are inviting members of the public to join in a week of excavations at the site of Fort St. Joseph during the 2013 Field School in Historical Archaeology. Officials said it's a great opportunity to experience hands-on history and learn what it means to be an archaeologist.

Archaeology Festival set for March 30 at Johnson history museum

The Palm Beach County Archaeological Society and Historical Society of Palm Beach County will host an Archaeology Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30 at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum at the historic Palm Beach County Courthouse, 300 N. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.

Historic Macedonia Tower to become museum

Edirne’s Macedonia Tower will become an archeology museum following restorations. The tower is one of the four greatest ramparts of a castle built in the northwestern province of Edirne during the Roman Empire and it is keeping it’s attraction for the cultural events as it’s secrets reveal.