Swiss researchers digging in eastern Mali claim to have discovered Africa’s oldest piece of ceramic, a “tiny, ornate fragment that was made with great skill and the use of fire,” according to ethno-archaeologist Anne Mayor. The pottery dates to 9,400 B.C.

UNESCO experts have listed the damage done to Babylon by U.S. troops and contractors, adding that the ancient city could finally be added to the World Heritage list within two years. Trenches were dug, hilltops were bulldozed, and military vehicles were driven over paved procession paths. Babylon has not been named a World Heritage site because of changes made to the ruins under the rule of Saddam Hussein.   

Dutch police retrieved 69 artifacts looted from Iraq after a tip from U.S. customs authorities and Interpol. The items will be displayed at the Dutch National Museum for Antiquities before they are shipped back to Iraq.   

Scientists have a DNA match between hairs collected from one of Copernicus’ personal books, and bone fragments discovered buried in a tomb beneath the cathedral in Frombork, Poland.   

A California developer has begun the construction of a house on top of six of 30 identified Native Hawaiian burials on his property in Kaua’i, despite opposition from the Kaua’i Burial Council. He argues that he has complied with the preservation law by covering the burials with cement caps and building the house on piers.   

James Adovasio of Mercyhurst College has returned to the Gulf of Mexico this summer to look for traces of the first Americans. “There’s no doubt that early North American occupations are underwater, but it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. We have found the haystack; now we’ve got to find the needles,” he said. 

Coins and a mead mug are among the artifacts discovered by international students digging at Heraklea, in Macedonia.   

Students in Denmark were surprised to find more than 200 sets of human remains during their field school in the Illerup River Valley. “This was a defeated army that was sacrificed to the lake at the time. The majority of remains are large arm and leg bones, skulls, shoulder blades, and pelvises,” said Ejvind Hertz of the Skanderborg Museum.  

The New York Times has more information about the plan to build a tourist destination around a Roman-era mosaic in Lod, Israel. The 1,700-year-old floor was discovered 13 years ago, but only put on display for one weekend before it was reburied.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, July 9, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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