A chambered tomb containing burials from the Byzantine era has been unearthed in Syria. Archaeologist Ali al-Qatlabi said that 15 soldiers with worn-out leather shoes had been buried in the tomb, along with pottery, lamps, metal and glass bracelets, rings, copper coins, stone beads, and perfume bottles. 

Many residents of the modern Turkish village of Hasankeyf continue to protest against the opening of the Ilisu Dam, which would flood the the village and the nearby ancient site of Hasankeyf. “If the dam is constructed we will lose everything – our homes, this history and even the graves of those we have lost will go under the water,” said Semra Argun, whose family owns the only motel in town. 

A group of volunteers known as the Rutherglen Heritage Group is trying to track down their burgh’s original boundary stones with the help of the West of Scotland Archaeology Service. At one time, there were more than 300 stones, but at the last count, in the 1980s, there were only 57. “One of the major risks to small monuments is that people do not realize what they are, or how important they are to the history of the burgh, and so the stones are often removed during building development or landscaping,” said a spokesman. 

The balustrade on the tomb of American president William Henry Harrison, located in North Bend, Ohio, has been vandalized. “The breaks were clean, and it seems that putting things back into place with mortar is all that will be required,” said George Kane, director of historic sites and facilities for the Ohio Historical Society.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, March 24, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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