A British Museum staffer will reportedly travel to Tehran to iron out the wrinkles in the loan deal for the Cyrus Cylinder. Iran has said it will cut all ties with the museum unless a promise to loan the Cylinder to the National Museum of Iran is fulfilled.  

The Hanford Construction Camp in Washington State was home to 51,000 people during World War II. They lived in barracks, prefabricated huts, and trailer parks while building an industrial complex to produce plutonium. “It’s an interesting picture because a lot of different people came here from around the country,” said archaeologist Brian Smith.  

Genetic testing will be performed on human bones to try to determine if they represent Edward Salter, a barrel maker who died in North Carolina in 1735. Salter is thought to have been a member of Blackbeard’s crew. “His would be the only grave of a known pirate anywhere in the world,” said Tom Thompson, executive director of the Beaufort County Economic Development Commission.  

Twenty Colonial-era ships wrecked off the coast of the Dominican Republic are known to have been plundered.  

Students wore hard hats and high visibility vests when they toured an archaeological site near Boynton Primary School in Yorkshire, England. Archaeologist Peter Cardwell then shared artifacts and photographs with the children in their classrooms. “I loved looking at things from the olden days,” said one.  

The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory performed additional DNA testing on bones thought to have belonged to the poet Everett Ruess, who disappeared in 1934. They found that the remains were not related to Ruess’ closest living relatives.

A section of stone wall built by the Vikings 900 years ago has been opened to public view in Dublin.  

A fourth-century A.D. Roman temple has been found in an ancient trading port in Tuscany. 

The greatly hyped “Ida” (Darwinius masillae) fossil has been booted off the human family tree.

“Ida” (the now former human ancestor) did a bit better than “Ardi” in Nielsen ratings, in case you were wondering.

Remains of the 2nd-century A.D. “Athenaeum” have been in Rome during work for the city’s new subway line.

The Onion makes fun of Maya 2012 predictions and the producer of the film 10,000 B.C. in one brief article.

A small four-pronged anchor will be hauled up today from the supposed wreck of Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship.

This is a press release for Marine Exploration, Inc., which is looking for treasure under an agreement with the Dominican Republic.

A wine bottle found after a hurricane suggests the Civil War blockade runner Mary Celeste was involved in the transatlantic wine trade. (Bermuda fines people for taking stuff from wrecks.)

A court ruling about archaeological excavation in the City of David in Jerusalem concludes it is “in the public’s best interests.”