A series of dams planned along the Nile River in Sudan  will put the country’s archaeological heritage at risk. Members of the Sudanese ministry for antiquities met with archaeologists from around the world at the British Museum, where they talked with the Dams Implementation Unit and made plans for rescue excavations. Within the next three to six years, as the dams are built, archaeologists will create maps, excavate sites, and remove important examples of rock art.

Archaeologists have unearthed stone tools estimated to be 63,000 years old  at the inland site of Shi’bat Dihya in Yemen. “The Arabian Peninsula is routinely considered as the corridor where migrating East African populations would have passed during a single or multiple dispersal events,” wrote the excavation team, led by Anne Delgnes of the Université Bordeaux in the Journal of Human Evolution. Yet, these tools may have been made by earlier migrants from Africa who settled and adapted to desert life. They could even have been crafted by Neanderthals.

A 3,500-year-old cemetery  has been uncovered in southwest Iran. Archaeologists estimate that some 500 people had been buried in the cemetery. They have excavated 20 graves, which yielded pottery, coins, jewelry, and weapons. Seventy of the graves were destroyed during a construction project.

A new federal transportation funding law changes the Transportation Enhancements Program, which had supported some 200 archaeological research projects between 1992 and 2011. The new Transportation Alternatives program  cuts the total funding available by a third, and it will require archaeological projects to be “related to transportation projects,” in order to be eligible for funding.

Here’s a list of articles and slideshows about the discovery of the site where Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto  met the people of the village of Potano in 1539, including one about how archaeologist Ashley White kept the historic village safe. He found the village on his family’s property in central Florida, and he constructed a “faux dig” to distract potential looters from the actual De Soto encampment. “I don’t know if people have a personal passion or they just want to sell the items on eBay or both,” he said.

Reports from Timbuktu  indicate that seven of the city’s 16 mausolea of ancient Muslim saints have now been destroyed by the Islamists controlling northern Mali. The members of Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) have also destroyed the sacred door of the fifteenth-century Sidi Yahya mosque. “They say they will destroy everything,” said an unnamed witness. There are more pictures  of Timbuktu’s historic structures and artifacts at BBC News.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, July 10, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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