Zahi Hawass has been renamed minister of Egyptian antiquities, according to the official MENA news agency.  You can read about what he’s been up to since he resigned from the post earlier this month at his site, http://www.drhawass.com/. 

A team from Cardiff University is reexamining the Egyptian tunnels known as The Dog Catacombs. As many as eight million animals are estimated to have been placed there. “These animals were not strictly ‘sacrificial.’ Rather, the dedication of an animal mummy was regarded as a pious act, with the animal acting as intermediary between the donor and the gods,” explained archaeologist Paul Nicholson. 

The remains of babies and hundreds of sacrificed animals have been excavated from a Roman site in the greater London area. 

Scientists will begin a new investigation of Serpent Mound in Ohio. “We expect to generate a new and detailed understanding of the serpent’s internal structure,” said team leader William F. Romain. 

The city of St. Augustine, Florida, has dedicated a new archaeology center, named for Dr. Sue A. Middleton. 

Goats, sheep, and cows have the run of Cyrene, a Hellenistic city in eastern Libya. “This is our history and there are goats all over it. We have no government, so how can you expect a place like this to be protected?” asked visitor Fitah al-Fakhri. 

National Geographic Daily News has picked up the story on the possible trade of cacao and turquoise between the prehistoric peoples of New Mexico and Mesoamerica.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

Comments posted here do not represent the views or policies of the Archaeological Institute of America.