The government of Turkey has asked several American institutions to return antiquities thought to have been illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country after 1906, when a law was passed that declared all antiquities in the ground the property of the state. Many of the objects in question have been acquired by the museums since the 1960s, and sometimes through transactions with antiquities dealers known to have ties to the black market. Artifact loans could be denied to museums that refuse to cooperate. “Turkey has been fighting against illicit trafficking of cultural objects since the Late Ottoman Period. Many ways were tried during the past years but they were not sufficient,” said Murat Suslu, director general for cultural heritage and museums.

Bulgaria’s National Museum of History announced the discovery of a solid gold ring inlaid with a semi-precious stone, and a golden leaf from a wreath, outside the fortress gate of Sozopol, which is located on the coast of the Black Sea. The ring dates from the Roman period, and the golden leaf is thought to have been manufactured for trade with the Thracians.

Records kept by Ralph Glidden, who dug up hundreds of American Indian burial sites on Santa Catalina Island and other Channel Islands, have been found in storage at the Catalina Island Museum. Glidden sold what he found during the 1920s and 1930s, and is known to have made exaggerated claims about his discoveries, in addition to building a museum out of human bones, in order to boost sales. His records were donated to the Catalina Island Museum in 1968 and then forgotten. “These are going to fill a lot of holes in the historical records,” said Wendy Teeter of the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles.

During Germany’s medieval period, the two independent towns of Berlin and Cölln grew on either side of the River Spree.  Archaeologists have been excavating Cölln, which was eventually swallowed up by the expansion of Berlin and then covered by a parking lot. They have found the foundations of a brick church, a town hall, and a school that burned down in 1730. The well-preserved remains of nearly 4,000 people have also been uncovered, along with more than 200,000 artifacts.

The rock art of the remote Pilbara area, including the Burrup peninsula, will be documented by scientists from the University of Western Australia as part of an agreement with a mining company. Rock art on the Burrup peninsula could be some of the earliest on the continent, and was placed on the National Heritage List in 2007. The mineral-rich region has been has been developed recently by energy companies. “It’s surprising that we don’t know what is there but that is very much the case for everywhere in Australia,” said rock art expert Jo McDonald.

Earlier this week, the LDS Church announced its plans to dismantle the foundation of the old Provo Tabernacle and donate its stones to the city. The nineteenth-century foundation was uncovered in preparation for the construction of a new tabernacle. Now a team of concerned citizens are circulating a petition asking to leave the foundation in place. “If this was in Salt Lake it would be preserved,” said Provo resident Raquel Smith Callis.

Here’s a quick history of Empúries, the westernmost of the ancient Greek colonies, in Catalonia, Spain.

The European Union has agreed to a plan to help Italy rescue Pompeii from collapse. “We gave our approval to this important restoration work that is not only in the interest of Italy, but for all of Europe’s historic patrimony,” said Johannes Hahn, European Union Commissioner for Regional Policy.

Costumed gladiators and centurions will no longer be allowed to ask tourists for money for posing for pictures around Rome’s Colosseum.

Operation Nightingale, a rehabilitation program for injured veterans, helped uncover a Roman building in Wales. “There are a lot of transferable skills that we have learned within the military that we’re able to transfer to archaeology,” said Steven Winterton, who was injured in Afghanistan.

A new translation of an inscription from the Roman city of Oinoanda in southwestern Turkey reveals that an athlete named Lucius Septimius Flavianus Flavillianus, who was a champion at wrestling and pankration, worked as a military recruiter for the Roman army. He was so successful at his job that he was made a cult figure after his death. “A celebrity would have a greater ability to drum up support and large numbers of volunteers than somebody who was not a celebrity,” said Nicholas Milner of the British Institute at Ankara.

The location of Pike’s Cantonment, where Zebulon Pike’s 15^th Regiment camped during the winter of 1812-13, has been found in Plattsburgh, New York.