Northern Yucatan was settled by the Maya some 600 years earlier than previously thought, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. Archaeologists found seven new settlements, including buildings, ceramics, and burials.

This photo essay chronicles the efforts of archaeologists and volunteers to clean graffiti from rock art at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Nevada. Here’s more information on the damage and the project to clean it up.

And there’s more information on the American tour guide accused of selling artifacts to members of his tour group to Israel. The retired professor claims to have had no knowledge of the law. “They need to be clear with tourists with what is legal and not. This is a blind-side. I could not have been more blind-sided,” he said. But the Israeli Antiquities Authority says otherwise. “We thought it was appropriate to let him off with a warning. But we kept our eyes open … and sure enough, the guy kept on doing what he was told not to,” said Shai Bar Tura, deputy director of the authority’s theft prevention unit.

A 380-year-old canoe removed from a Florida creek bottom in 1998 has been preserved and put on display at the Polk County Nature Conservancy.

Some of our most familiar archaeological monuments looked quite different in antiquity than they do now.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, May 20, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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