Fossil pollen and charcoal deposits taken from the Nile Delta have preserved a record of climate catastrophes in ancient Egypt. Researchers from the US Geological Survey and the University of Pennsylvania found less wetland pollen and more charcoal in several different layers of the sediment cores, indicating times of drought in four different periods. The severe droughts led to famine and may have contributed to political upheaval.

A large Iron Age wheelhouse and a Norse settlement have been found at the site of Bornais, on the Scottish island of South Uist. The wheelhouse had been built directly on top of the remains of a house that had burned down. It contained an elaborate hearth decorated with cattle bones. An astragalus and a bone dice were also found pushed into its dirt floor. “These bones are thought to have been used in gaming and the dice is marked with numbers one, four, six, and three. But they may also have been used in trying to predict the future,” said Niall Sharples of Cardiff University. When the Vikings moved into the site, they brought a piece of green marble thought to have been imported from Greece.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Günay revealed that a large panel of sixteenth-century Iznik tiles that had been stolen some ten years ago had been recovered and returned to Turkey. The tiles were taken piecemeal from the Sinan Pasa Mosque, located in the northwestern province of Bursa, on three separate dates, but most of the tiles were found in England and handed over to the Turkish ambassador. The panel has been reassembled and is on display at the Ankara Ethnography Museum.

More than 450 Roman and Byzantine coins, ornaments, and weapons parts were seized by Bulgarian officials at the Lesovo customs checkpoint near the Turkish border. Two people traveling by car told officials they had nothing to declare, but their Jeep was selected for closer examination. An x-ray revealed two plastic bags full of artifacts hidden inside a front seat. Two more bags of artifacts were found on the driver.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, August 20, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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