Tests at a Tokyo lab indicate that seven axes excavated in Malaysia are 1.83 million years old. The previously oldest-known stone tools in Malaysia are 200,000 years old, and were found at the same site.

A brick factory sits on a 2,000-year-old site on the Indonesian island of Bali. Workers have found stone artifacts, a sarcophagus, bones, pottery, and porcelain. “No, I’m not careful. We see broken bits of pottery all day. We know they’re old, but I have to keep working to make money,” explained one brick maker.  

In 2003, Greece relaxed its laws protecting its 12,000 miles of coastline from scuba divers in an effort to boost tourism. Archaeologists say looters have taken advantage of the underwater archaeological parks by posing as tourists on yachts.  

France has filed a claim to the Griffon in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The state of Michigan is also seeking title to the vessel, although state officials doubt that the timbers found on the bottom of northern Lake Michigan represent the wreck of LaSalle’s seventeenth-century ship. A private company, Great Lakes Exploration LLC, located the site in 2001 and has been seeking salvage rights to it.  

The Huaca Rajada Museum has opened near Peru’s tombs of Sipan. It showcases Moche artifacts from the tombs that have been uncovered since 2007.  

In Australia, bridge construction has revealed a steam-powered ship that sank during a cyclone in 1918. “They’ve found the remains of an old compass and a number of ornate dragon figurines, as well as the timber of the deck,” said government representative Tim Mulherin.  

And in New York, a 1906 gas-powered motor boat on the bottom of Lake George has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “It’s very rare to find something from the 20^th century on the register,” said underwater archaeologist Joseph Zarzynski.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, January 30, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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