A Buddhist shrine has been built by the army in the former capital of the mostly Hindu Tamil Tigers, one year after their rebellion was defeated in Sri Lanka. The army claims the shrine sits on an ancient Buddhist site. An unidentified Tamil historian says that “Archaeology has always been political in Sri Lanka.”  

American and Syrian archaeologists digging at Tell Zeidan have uncovered artifacts from 5500 to 4000 B.C., known as the Ubaid period. The site has “the potential to revolutionize current interpretations of how civilization in the Near East came about,” according to Guillermo Algaze of the University of California, San Diego. 

Archaeologists think they may have located Shakespeare’s trash pit at New Place, the home he purchased in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1597.  

The World Monuments Fund has awarded a $1 million grant for the preservation of the Moche site, Huaca de la Luna, in Peru. 

As many as 50 artifacts at the Miho Museum in Japan may be under investigation by Italian authorities. Some of the objects were acquired from antiquities dealers in Switzerland.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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