More than 100 more terracotta warriors have been unearthed at the tomb of China’s first emperor in Xian province. Some paint colors remain on the statues, along with burn marks. “It was hard work to restore the clay warriors as they were broken into pieces. It took us at least 10 days to restore one,” said Xu Weihong, head of the research team. 

Advances in the study of modern and ancient genes will allow scientists to test theories about human evolution and migration. “In the next five years, we will see a whole spectrum of discoveries,” said Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen.  

A team from University College London and the University of Manchester claims that Easter Island’s road system was primarily ceremonial, and was not solely built for the transportation of Moai. “They lead – from different parts of the island – to the Rano Raraku volcano where the Moai were quarried. … Volcano cones were considered as points of entry to the underworld and mythical origin land Hawaiki,” explained Colin Richards of the University of Manchester.  

Graves in Pydna, an ancient city in Macedonia, contained gold jewelry, vases, and ivory beds in the fourth century B.C., but 100 years later, the offerings were much less elaborate. “At the close of the fourth century, a decree issued by Cassander’s commander in Macedonia-occupied Athens forbade the building of elaborate funeral monuments and limited spending on ceremonies. It was like the period we are going through today – one that will probably be found by and archaeologist of the future,” said Manthos Besios, deputy supervisor of the Pydna excavations.  

Nineteenth-century photographs helped archaeologists locate an aqueduct that was built in 1320 and carried water from Bethlehem to Jerusalem for 600 years. The same route has been used to carry water for 2,000 years.  

Chunks of mortar falling off Rome’s Colosseum have renewed concerns about the condition of other archaeological treasures in the city. “It is very difficult because these are not pieces and artifacts that are inside a museum, they are outside in the open with the rain and the noise and all these tourists walking around. So these are places that need even more money than most people can imagine,” said Darius Arya of the American Institute for Roman Culture.  

A late nineteenth-century neighborhood in downtown Seattle will be excavated before the Washington State Department of Transportation begins moving underground utilities and other construction projects. The neighborhood was torn down to build a rail yard for the Union Pacific Railroad 100 years ago. Archaeologists expect to unearth plenty of trash, building foundations, and other infrastructure. 

Here’s a slideshow of photographs from recent headlines in archaeological news.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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