Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have finished the controversial seven-year excavation of a Second Temple period drainage channel. The channel is located in Jerusalem’s Old City, near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, has replied to Egypt’s request for the return of the famed bust of Nefertiti. “The foundation’s position on the return of Nefertiti remains unchanged. She is and remains the ambassador of Egypt in Berlin.”  

The 1,700-year-old skeleton of a man of African descent discovered in England two years ago may be the remains of a Roman soldier who retired in Stratford-upon-Avon.  

Researchers from Stanford University built and fired a kiln based on late Iron Age and Roman kilns found in Britain, in addition to kilns from other ancient cultures. “What we’ve learned from the suite of replication events on campus is that the firing technologies evolved to fit the materials,” said ceramic geoarchaeologist Melissa Chatfield.  

A nine-year-old boy discovered a Neolithic ax head while out walking his dog with his grandfather.  

Thomas P. Lowry of Woodbridge, Virginia, has confessed to changing the date on a Lincoln document held at The National Archives back in 1998. The statute of limitations has run out on this federal crime, so he will not be prosecuted.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, and head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass have made a request to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation for the return of the famed bust of Queen Nefertiti, exhibited at the Neues Museum in Berlin. The bust was discovered on the banks of the Nile in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. There’s a follow-up story at ABC News.

The US Department of Homeland Security and Italy have renewed the bilateral agreement to restrict imports of archaeological material from Italy, including coins for the first time.  

Archaeologists in England are investigating the Coleshill estate, secret headquarters of Winston Churchill during World War II, and home to a guerrilla volunteer force. “We feel it is crucial that the site is surveyed completely and this forms part of our ongoing commitment to researching these brave men and women,” said Tom Sykes, leader of the project.  

In Bangladesh, 1,700-year-old brick structures were damaged when local people used dirt and bricks from the archaeological zone to build a road.  

A crowd of people gathered at the St. Augustine Lighthouse hoping to learn the name of a shipwreck discovered off the Florida coast. Archaeological conservator Starr Cox removed concretions from the ship’s bronze bell, but no inscription was found.