Field Notes, July/August 1997 - Archaeology Magazine Archive


Field Notes	Volume 50 Number 4, July/August 1997

Taleban Won't Blow Up Bamiyan Buddha	The Taleban, the orthodox Islamic militia that controls large portions of Afghanistan, has denied a widely publicized report that it would destroy a giant third- or fourth-century A.D. cliff-face statue of Buddha at Bamiyan, 100 miles west of Kabul, if it captured the area. Taleban spokesmen said that a local commander had made the statement on his own and that it was not supported by the group's leadership.
Egypt Still Wants the Rosetta Stone	The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities has denied a report in the Sunday Times of London that it was dropping its claim to the Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra's Needle, and other Egyptian antiquities abroad.
Rome's Wolf to be Restored	The Capitoline Wolf, a fifth-century B.C. bronze she-wolf often believed to represent the animal that suckled the mythical twins Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome, will get a much-needed $135,000, eight-month restoration. No one knows whether the sculpture is Etruscan, Roman, or from Magna Graecia; scholars hope the new work will help resolve this question.
Twain Site Demolished	A California developer has torn down Nevada's Desert Wells Station, a trading post for pioneers traveling the California Trail in the 1850s and later a station on the Overland Stage and Mail Route. In Roughing It, Mark Twain chronicled a night he and two friends spent in a blizzard only to realize at daybreak they were 15 steps from the station. The landmark was not protected by law because it was on private land.
New Petén Site	A large Maya site has been discovered in the Río San Pedro Mártir drainage in the Petén region of northern Guatemala.
Roman Finds in England	Two large Roman complexes have been discovered in England, one near Faversham, in Kent, and the other near Swindon, west of London. The latter, perhaps the largest Roman villa in Britain, was found during construction; archaeologists hope to conduct excavations this summer.