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‘Nerdy’ teen finds over 365 Viking artifacts including 60 historic coins while exploring with metal detector
Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins.
Danish National Museum spokesman Jens Christian Moesgaard says the coins have a distinctive cross motif attributed to Norse King Harald Bluetooth, who is believed to have brought Christianity to Norway and Denmark.
Sixteen-year-old Michael Stokbro Larsen found the coins and other items with a metal detector in a field in northern Denmark. Stokbro Larsen, who often explores with his detector, said friends find him “a bit nerdy.” (AP Photo/Polfoto/Stokke Brothers)
Archaeologists unearth ‘breathtaking’ 4,000-year-old complex at Iraqi home of Abraham
British archaeologists said Thursday they have unearthed a sprawling complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.
The structure, thought to be about 4,000 years old, probably served as an administrative center for Ur, around the time Abraham would have lived there before leaving for Canaan, according to the Bible.
The compound is near the site of the partially reconstructed Ziggurat, or Sumerian temple, said Stuart Campbell of Manchester University’s Archaeology Department, who led the dig.
“This is a breathtaking find,” Campbell said, because of its unusually large size – roughly the size of a football pitch, or about 80 metres on each side. The archaeologist said complexes of this size and age were rare. (Stuart Campbell / The Associated Press)
Archaeologists find mythological ‘gate to hell’ in Turkey
Archaeologists have discovered a “gate to hell” at a dig site in Turkey. The ruin is known as Pluto’s Gate, and was fabled as the doors to the underworld in both Greek and Roman traditions. The gate is known as the Plutonium in Latin.
The cave where the ruins were located emit dangerous and poisonous gasses, much like the gate was told to do in Greek mythology.
“We could see the cave’s lethal properties during the excavation. Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes,” Francesco D’Andria, professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento, told Discovery News.
The gates were part of a much larger dig site around the ancient city of Hierapolis. (Google Maps)
Wounds from the battlefield: What Richard III’s remains revealed about war-scarred king
For centuries, the location of King Richard III’s body has been unknown. Records say he was buried by the Franciscan monks of Grey Friars at their church in Leicester, 160 kilometres north of London. The church was closed and dismantled after King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, and its location eventually was forgotten.
Then, last September, archaeologists searching for Richard dug up the skeleton of an adult male who appeared to have died in battle.
Bone specialist Jo Appleby said the 10 injuries to the body were inflicted by weapons like swords, daggers and halberds and were consistent with accounts of Richard being struck down in battle — his helmet knocked from his head — before his body was stripped naked and flung over the back of a horse in disgrace.
She said some scars, including a knife wound to the buttock, bore the hallmarks of “humiliation injuries” inflicted after death.
Alberta aboriginal rock etchings defaced with drill, power washer, acid
Historians are comparing it to the Taliban’s destruction of massive Buddhist statues in Afghanistan: Ancient aboriginal pictograms and petroglyphs on an Albertan rock formation have been systematically destroyed by cultural vandals using a rock drill, acid and a power washer.
The obliteration of the etchings on the Glenwood Erratic near Pincher Creek in southern Alberta was discovered last week, just as an historian was about to photograph and test the markings.
“The site is part of the earliest heritage of Canada,” said Michael Dawe, Curator of History at Red Deer Museum. “It looks like an ancient ceremonial/religious site at Glenwood, Alta., was deliberately destroyed. If true, this is a shocking and appalling incident.” (Photos: CHRIS DAVIS/PINCHER CREEK VOICE)
Richard III mystery solved after 500 years? Bones uncovered at suspected burial site
Archaeologists searching for the grave of King Richard III said Wednesday that they have found bones which are consistent with the 15th century monarch’s physical abnormality and of a man who died in battle.
A team from the University of Leicester said Wednesday the bones were beneath the site of the Grey Friars church in Leicester, central England, where contemporary accounts say Richard was buried following his death in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
Richard Buckley, co-director of the university’s Archaeological Services, said the bones are a “prime candidate” to be Richard’s. The remains are now being examined and the team hopes that DNA can be recovered to aid identification. (AP Photo/University of Leicester; Reuters)
Scientists launch fresh expedition in search of U.S. pilot Amelia Earhart
Scientists on Tuesday announced a new phase in the search to resolve the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, saying fresh evidence from a remote Pacific island may hold clues to the fate of the renowned U.S. pilot who vanished in 1937 while attempting to circle the globe.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined scientists and aviation archaeologists to unveil the expedition, which will set out from Honolulu in July to probe underwater areas around the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati where they believe Earhart may have crashed 75 years ago.
“When she took off on that historic journey she carried the aspirations of our entire country with her,” Clinton said, calling Earhart one of the “fearless optimists” who defined 20th century America.
“Even if you do not find what you seek, there is great honour and possibility in the search itself,” Clinton said. (Photos: MCT/AFP/Getty Images)
ROM exhibit on Ancient Maya showcases a little-understood culture
To understand the culture of the ancient Mayans is to appreciate the symbols behind it — the glyphs and language that comprise the art, religion and practices that originated centuries ago in the heart of Mexico. Now, thanks to the work of the Royal Ontario Museum, the Mexican government and a wealth of prominent international museums, Toronto will have the rare opportunity to not only experience this intriguing culture, but to fully discover its long-held traditions.
