The Hawaii Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, said that the city of Honolulu did not comply with state historic preservation and burial protection laws by failing to complete an archaeological inventory along the entire route of an elevated rail project before starting construction. “It is undisputed that the rail project has a ‘high’ likelihood of having a potential effect on archaeological resources,” it reads. Archaeologist Kehaunani Abad says that one possible route travels through Kakaako, which she calls “burial central.” The project has been halted.

Recreational divers discovered a gilded bronze lion head off the coast of Calabria. They also brought bronze and copper armor to the surface. Italian law requires that historic finds be reported within 24 hours, but it may have taken a week for the divers to contact the authorities. “There are a number of elements that must be…clarified,” said Simonetta Bonomi, superintendent for the archaeological and cultural heritage of Calabria.

Archaeologists are excavating a mass grave near the Powazki Military Cemetery in Warsaw. The grave contains the remains of hundreds of Polish resistance fighters killed by the communist regime in the aftermath of World War II. Among others, the researchers hope to identify the remains of Witold Pilecki, who infiltrated Auschwitz in order to witness Nazi atrocities and then escaped, only to be executed after the war. “He was unique in the world,” said his daughter.

Students from the University of Oklahoma assisted with the excavation of a 10,000-year-old bison kill site, where they uncovered bison bones, Folsom points, and butchering tools. They also butchered a bison using stone tools in order to learn about butchering marks. The bison was donated to the students by members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, who helped the students with the butchering.

On December 6, Berlin’s Egyptian Museum will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. He excavated the site of Amarna, an ancient city founded by Nefertiti’s husband, Pharaoh Akhenaton. Of the 7,000 artifacts recovered by the expedition, about 5,500 of them are in Germany. Egypt has requested the return of famed sculpture.

Hikers discovered the wreckage of a plane carrying Indian diplomatic mail and newspapers from 1966 in the Alpine glacial ice near Mont Blanc. The diplomatic pouch was intact, and the Indian Embassy in Paris confirmed the discovery.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, August 31, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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