The Baths of Caracalla in Rome “suffered some damage” in this morning’s earthquake, according to city archaeologist Angelo Bottini. In the medieval city of L’Aquila, the epicenter of the quake, thousands of buildings were destroyed and more than 90 people killed.   This Associated Press article has more information on L’Aquila’s architecture.

Looters have targeted the archaeological sites revealed by shrinking Haditha Lake in Iraq’s western Anbar province. “We are worried that organized theft could become a problem. We need protection, and a lot of resources,” said chief archaeologist Ratid Ali Faraj.  

Marc Fehlmann, who teaches at Eastern Mediterranean University, thinks that most of the artifacts looted from Cyprus soils stay in Cyprus. “The market is with local Cypriots and rich Cypriots abroad. I can’t prove it, but there is a lot of hypocrisy,” he said.  

The plight of rock art in Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon gets national attention with this article from Bloomberg. Industrial trucks use a road through the canyon as part of the natural-gas extraction industry, kicking up dust mixed with corrosive chemicals. “We think they can get everything they want out of there without destroying the place,” said Pam Miller of Eastern Utah University.  

Archaeologists looking for evidence of the “Lost Colony” at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site dug up bits of bone, fish scales, ceramics, metal buckles and buttons. “It’s a candidate for the first permanent English settlement on Roanoke Island, but I certainly wouldn’t want to bet on it at this point,” said Nick Luccketti of the James River Institute for Archaeology in Williamsburg.   

What is a shaman, and how can you identify one in an archaeological site? Blogger K. Kris Hirst discusses a new study by Christine VanPool that will be published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.   

Volunteers spent a Saturday picking up debris at the site of Johnson’s Island Civil War Military Prison, located in Ohio. “The cleanup really helps because we have a lot of people coming out here during the school year. It just makes the place seem friendlier,” said Allison Galbari, a student from Heidelberg University.   Learn more about the site right here at ARCHAEOLOGY.  

The Battlefields Trust and English Heritage will work together to find and list 100 historic battlefields in England. “The project will help us pin down where many of these battles were, what happened and what we need to do to preserve them,” said Frank Baldwin, chairman of the Trust.  

Scientists from the Lighthouse Archeology Maritime Program rescued a unique canoe from an alligator park in St. Augustine, Florida. “It’s probably the last of its kind. Research shows that it’s a design local to St. Augustine,” said archaeologist Robin E. Moore.  

Easter Island, home of more than 900 moai, still draws too many tourists. “We have more than 50,000 visitors during the year, which means more than 11 times the total population of the island. … We would prefer a high-quality tourism. Maybe not more people, but people with more money asking for more professional services,” said local tour guide Cristian Reyes.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, April 6, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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