Many of the well-known red frescoes in Pompeii were once yellow, according to a new study conducted by Italy’s National Institute of Optics. “I am always a bit suspicious of these claims. We know that some of the red was once yellow, but I’m not sure that we can be certain about the proportions. What is certainly true, though, is that the heat had some effect on the colors: it’s another case in which we can see that Pompeii was not the time capsule we sometimes imagine it to be,” cautioned Mary Beard of Cambridge University.

In Turkey, traces of a 7,000-year-old settlement have been uncovered along the coast of the Dardanelles. “We know that almost all settlements older than 5,000 years ago were established on high plateaus. This discovery gives us important clues that people settled deliberately because of the rise and fall of the sea,” said archaeologist Rüstem Aslan.

National Geographic Daily News offers more photographs of the 2,500-year-old chariots and horse skeletons that were unearthed in central China.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has honored the students and faculty of Georgia Southern University for their work at Camp Lawton, a Civil War prison camp. “Georgia Southern University is very proud of our students and faculty who have been honored with the Partners in Conservation award,” said University President Brooks Keel.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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