Utah laid off its two state archaeologists and two assistants, citing budget cuts. Skeptics think the move was political. “We were pretty vocal over the issue of the [rail] station down in Draper that was going to be placed over a 3,000-year-old archaeological site,” said former assistant state archaeologist Ronald Rood. “Unfortunately, these cuts were mandated by the Legislature,” replied Allyson Isom, communications director for the Utah Department of Community and Culture.

Roman baths dating to the second and third centuries A.D. have been unearthed at a construction project in York, England. “We know very little of the layout of the civilian town of Eboracum, as Roman York was called. Confirming the location of the baths gives us another important piece of the puzzle,” said chief archaeologist Nick Pearson.

An incised mammoth bone discovered in Florida by a fossil hunter has been authenticated by a research team of archaeologists, paleontologists, forensic anthropologists, materials science engineers, and artists. The 13,000-year-old bone may be the first one of its kind found in the Western Hemisphere. “It either had to be carved from direct observation when the animals existed or has to be a modern fake,” and “all indications are that the carving is the same age as the bone,” commented Christopher J. Ellis of the University of Western Ontario.

The ancient city of Acre, a Crusader-era archaeological site in Israel, waits beneath a modern port city inhabited by 56,000 people. “It’s like Pompeii of Roman times—it’s a complete city,” said archaeologist Eliezer Stern. Israel hopes to draw more tourists to the World Heritage site.

In Lancashire, England, a metal detectorist found a silver, medieval badge bearing an image of one of the companions of St. Ursula. The badge was probably obtained on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Ursula in Cologne, Germany. “It is an incredibly exciting find,” said Michael Lewis of the British Museum.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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