A Viking “recycling center” dating to 1066 has been discovered in York, England. Iron arrowheads and ax heads, along with evidence of metal working, were uncovered near the site of the Battle of Fulford Gate. Historian Chas Jones thinks the Norsemen were fixing their weapons after the Battle of Fulford Gate when they were called away to the Battle of Stamford Bridge. 

A well-preserved fortification wall has been found surrounding the ancient city of Vergina, in northern Greece.  

Thin gold sheets designed to cover the eyes and mouth have been unearthed in a grave near Szeged, Hungary.  

A man and a woman have pleaded guilty to looting artifacts from the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado. All but $500 of their fines will be suspended if they write “letters of apology to educate the public about the importance of leaving artifacts where they’re found.”  

While dredging the Delaware River in South Philadelphia, an Army Corps of Engineers captain spotted a cannonball, and parts of a cheval-de-frise, used to gore the hulls of enemy ships. The weapons had been buried in the muck near Fort Mifflin, which had been bombarded by the British for a month during the Revolutionary War.  

This video from BBC News offers more information on the ancient manuscripts and intellectual heritage of Timbuktu.  

And, there’s more on the plans to partially restore the theater on the southern slopes of the Athens Acropolis.  

A burial mound in Arbil, Iraq, is being excavated. Arbil is thought to be the longest continuously inhabited site in the world.  

Four sets of human remains are being sent to Hawaii from Vietnam for forensic testing. The remains are believed to belong to American pilots killed during the Vietnam War.  

Were the 6,000-year-old temples of Malta and Gozo constructed to mimic the acoustic properties of caves? “There is a small niche in what we call ‘The Oracle Chamber,’ and if someone with a deep voice speaks inside, the voice echoes all over the Hypogeum. The resonance in the ancient temple is something exceptional. You can hear the voice rumbling all over,” explained Joseph Farrugia, science officer at Malta’s Hal Saflieni Hypogeum.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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