Three chunks of mortar fell off Rome’s Colosseum early yesterday morning, although the monument is open today as usual.

Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, spoke to Hydro International about the potential sale of artifacts salvaged from a 1,000-year-old ship off the coast of northern Java. “We encourage the Indonesian government to make every effort to ensure that thorough scientific examination of the site is carried out and the artifacts are presented in museums,” she said.  

In Iraq, local officials and antiquities officials are at odds over what to do with the restoration of ancient Babylon. “We are trying our best to attract investments in order to build restaurants and other attractions,” said Mansour al-Manae, a member of the provincial council. Archaeologists, on the other hand, favor “slow and meticulous work.”  

Scientists from the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch have attempted to begin conservation of iron artifacts, such as anchors and a cannon, from the ship believed to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge while they are still underwater. “It’s fairly experimental and if nothing else, it will help to stop the artifacts from continuing to corrode,” said project director Mark Wilde Ramsing.  

A pair of American Indian gloves stolen from a display case at Western Michigan University has been recovered.  

Two medieval skeletons were unearthed in Gloucester, England, by work crews. “The minute we go below half a meter we have an archaeologist watching us,” said Nigel Edgeworth, the project manager.  

Christel Schneider of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology reports that bonobos have been filmed shaking their heads from side to side to prevent others from doing something they did not want them to do. Bonobos are known to use a wider range of head gestures than chimpanzees, although there has been anecdotal evidence that chimps also shake their heads to signal “no.”

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

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