Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama has spotted 17 pyramids, more than 1,000 tombs, and 3,000 ancient settlements using infra-red satellite images of Egypt. Test excavations have confirmed the presence of two of the pyramids. “It allows us to be more focused and selective in the work we do. Faced with a massive site, you don’t know where to start,” she said.  This video clip shows the pattern of streets and houses revealed by the infra-red satellite images.

Government officials in Israel and Palestinian authorities are racing to claim cultural property in anticipation of a Palestinian bid for statehood later this year. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only a conflict of territory but of identity and narratives, with archaeology and cultural heritage the physical embodiments of the narratives. Addressing these issues is critical for the stability of Israelis and Palestinians,” explained lawyer Daniel Seidemann.

Oregon’s Hidden Forest Cave in the Deschutes National Forest has been vandalized. Art is the cave was probably painted by ancestors to the members of the Klamath Tribe or the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. “I would imagine that because they’re exposed to the elements that they’re probably not 10,000 years old, but they were probably created before any Euro-Americans were living in the area,” said forest archaeologist Penni Borghi.

Lisa J. Lucero of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reports on her recent trip to central Belize, where she tried to determine if the Maya increased their offerings to the rain god Chaak between A.D. 800 and 900, when there was a series of droughts.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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