A man accused of trafficking in looted archaeological sites from public land in southern Utah has committed suicide. Steven L. Shrader, 56, of Sata Fe, NM, died last Friday. He is the second of the 24 indicted in the federal sting to take his own life.

State archaeologist Kevin Jones of the Utah Division of State History responds to a plea to “let ordinary people collect artifacts” in this editorial for Deseret News.   

A kiln belonging to Utah’s pioneer potter, Thomas Davenport, is being excavated by students from Michigan Technological University. Davenport moved to Utah in 1852 with the Mormons. “They formed a cultural group unique to the world,” said archaeologist Timothy Scarlett.  

While conducting a survey near Jericho, archaeologist Adam Zertal found a large underground quarry estimated to be 2,000 years old.  “We saw a hole in the ground … and went down and discovered this giant cavern, originally a quarry, built uniquely with hall after hall,” he said.   Here’s a photograph of the cave.  

A drum that had only been seen in murals has been unearthed at the ancient fortress in Yeoncheon-gun, Korea. The drum was made during time of the Goguryeo Kingdom, between 37 B.C. and 668 A.D.  

A four-year-old boy discovered an Athabascan arrow made of caribou antler while playing near the Taklanika River in Alaska’s Denali National Park. The arrow is about 1,500 years old.  

Some 35,000 people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice over the weekend. Midsummer is one of the few times a year that visitors are allowed close enough to the monument to touch the stones.  

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, June 22, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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