Viking-era silver artifacts were stolen from an archaeological site on the Baltic island of Gotland.

A Crusader-era stash of 350 marble pieces from destroyed buildings in Jerusalem has been found. “Everyone knows that Crusader Acre was an important center for international trade and the marble hoard reflects the magnificent buildings that were erected here but have not survived, as well as also the commerce and the wealth of its residents,” said Edna Stern of the Israel Antiquities Authority.  

The 1,300-year-old Staffordshire Hoard has gone on display at the British Museum. “It’s not the quantity, it’s the sheer quality, the barbaric splendor of it that gets you,” commented archaeologist Kevin Leahy.  

A 1,800-year-old grave was unearthed by a construction crew in Vietnam. The coffin had been made from a dugout tree lined with a sedge mat.  Wooden trays, statuettes, dishes, bowls, and combs were also found.  

One of the 29 forts along the Trail of Tears has been unearthed on undisturbed land in East Tennessee. “General Winfield Scott considered making this fort his main depot for the removal of the Cherokee,” said Forest Service archaeologist Quentin Bass. Volunteers working at the site have located block houses, a parade ground, a powder magazine, barracks, and storage pits, and artifacts used by soldiers and Cherokee housed there.  

Wreckage from the HMS Volage has been discovered in the Ionian Sea. The vessel was badly damaged in 1946 when it hit a mine near the Albanian port of Saranda. The incident is seen as an early episode of the Cold War.  

In southeastern Bulgaria, archaeologists have uncovered a first or second-century A.D. tomb containing ornate silver and bronze vessels, a chariot, and fragments of a shield.  

A hoard of coins discovered in 1968 in a farmer’s field remains locked in a Bulgarian museum vault, due to a lack of funds for a proper museum display case. The coins date to the fourth century B.C., and were probably supposed to pay Alexander the Great’s army.  

Charles Denton Armstrong of Blanding, Utah, had previously pleaded not guilty to accusations of threatening an undercover witness in a federal artifacts trafficking investigation. He is scheduled for a hearing on November 20, when he is expected to change his plea.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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