An eighth-century Islamic vase has been found in Heijokyo Palace, making it the oldest one known in Japan. Archaeologists think the vase was used to transport spices from the Islamic world to the capital, Nara, a terminus on the maritime trade route.  

A 1,500-year-old royal tomb decorated with frescoes has been unearthed in China’s Hebei province. The paintings line a long passage, and depict honor guard officials for the deceased, Gao Xiao Xu, an heir to the Qi dynasty.  

This report from China claims that archaeologists have discovered Xanadu, the city built by the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan in 1256.  

Archaeologist Bernardo Arriaza of the University of Tarapaca has suggested that the Chinchorro suffered from arsenic poisoning. Tests of 7,000-year-old Chinchorro mummies support the idea.  

Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have all ended their export credit support for Turkey’s Ilisu Dam project. The dam would flood the site of the ancient city of Hasankeyf.  

Prehistoric artifacts turned up in Nebraska along the route of a future oil pipeline.   

The 23 cenotes of Cara Blanca in Belize were Maya portals to the underworld, Xibalba. A team of expert divers and scientists has been mapping the area and looking for artifacts in the sulfur-rich waters. “The truth is we don’t really know what was going on at the cenotes, which is why we are exploring them,” said Andrew Kinkella of California’s Moorpark College.  

Four members of an artifact smuggling gang were arrested in India’s state of Uttar Pradesh.  

A team of 20 FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents and Interior Department archaeologists filled two moving vans with ancient artifacts that they removed from the Utah home of Jeanne Redd and her late husband, Dr. James Redd. Jeanne Redd and her daughter have pleaded guilty to felony artifact trafficking.  

Spain’s Queen Sofia, who holds a degree in archaeology, was on hand to open the new National Research Center on Human Evolution, or CENIEH, in Burgos. 

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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