In Athens, the temple of Athena Nike has been restored and the scaffolding has been removed. “We have used the latest technology, following successful experimentation with stress and aging,” said project head Dionysia Mihalopoulou.

The Greeks may have spotted Halley’s Comet in 466 B.C., 250 years earlier than previously thought. “It’s tough going back that far in time. It’s not like an eclipse, which is really predictable,” said Eric Hintz of Brigham Young University.  

Scientists continue to question the identification of the body exhumed from an ancient tomb in northern Greece. Does Tomb II at Vergina belong to Philip III Arrhidaios, Alexander the Great’s half brother, or to Alexander’s father, Phillip II?  

Scientists have analyzed the composition of a box of pills discovered in a shipwreck off the Tuscan coast of Italy 20 years ago. “For the first time, we have physical evidence of what we have in writing from the ancient Greek physicians Dioscorides and Galen,” said Alain Touwaide of the Smithsonian Institution.  

The Cyrus Cylinder has arrived in Iran and will go on display at the National Museum for four months. Iran threatened to cut ties with the British Museum after the loan had been repeatedly delayed.  

Anatomist Frank Rühli and ethicist Ina Kaufmann of the University of Zurich wonder if ancient mummies should be treated like living patients by the scientists who study them. “In a certain sense these people still have a life. We still talk about them. There are pieces of research that could affect their reputation,” commented Søren Holm, editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics.  

Here’s another article on the isolation of an antibiotic in beer brewed by ancient Nubians. “This is the first real, definitive demonstration that this is tetracycline,” said George Armelago of Emory University.  

New radiocarbon dates indicate that Scotland’s Moot Hill, described as an “ancient inauguration mound,” is at least 1,000 years old. “The lab results are in a sense nothing less than a birth certificate for Scotland,” said archaeologist Oliver O’Grady.  

A legal challenge has been filed by the Sierra Club, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Friends of Blair Mountain, and the West Virginia Labor History Association to reverse the decision of the National Park Service to remove West Virginia’s Blair Mountain Battlefield from the National Register of Historic Places. Coal miners and law enforcement officials battled on the mountain in 1921 over the right to unionize. Today, coal mining companies want access to the mountain. “In addition to the historical significance, the potential for heritage tourism and small business growth from the sustainable development of Blair Mountain is enormous. But due to the short-term goals of the coal industry, all this potential could be destroyed forever,” said a local resident.  

St. Paul’s Chapel is the oldest continuously used building in New York City, and it is chock full of historic artifacts. The chapel was also a place of refuge for recovery workers at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001.  

The Port Authority, which owned the World Trade Center complex, is responsible for deciding what government agencies and non-profit organizations can receive pieces of the Twin Towers and other artifacts for memorials.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, September 10, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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