The Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan has returned after years of instability in the region in order to conserve the Jahanabad Buddha, which was carved into a rock face in the Swat Valley 1,500 years ago. The Taliban attacked the carving in the fall of 2007, blowing off most of the Buddha’s face with dynamite and leaving cracks in the rest of the sculpture and the surrounding rocks. The team will not attempt to reconstruct the carving. “Whatever you do in the absence of perfect data is a fake,” explained team leader Luca Olivieri. The Swat Valley is known for its hundreds of Buddhist rock carvings and sites, and was once a center of religious tourism.

Archaeologist Regulo Franco has found a mine on Peru’s northern coast  containing pottery and bones left behind by the Moche 1,600 years ago. The mine produced malachite crystals, mercury ore, and cinnabar. Six years ago, Franco and his team discovered the intact tomb of the Señora de Cao, also known as the Tattooed Lady. They thought that her tattoos had been created with cinnabar imported from regions to the south, but the mine suggests that the cinnabar could have been obtained locally.

Security personnel at Rome’s airports have confiscated dozens of ancient cobblestones, marble mile markers from the Appian Way, and loose mosaic tiles from tourists’ luggage. “I can understand the legend and splendor that is Rome but that does not mean bits of it should be stolen. By all means tourists should take as many pictures as they like but they should not help themselves to cobblestones or other items, even if they appear to be discarded,” said Umberto Broccoli, superintendent of culture for Rome’s city council.

A hairpin owned by Catherine de Medici has been found in a communal toilet at Fontainebleau Palace, located outside Paris, even though the queen had private, royal chambers. The pin features interlocking Cs for “Catherine” and was decorated in white and green, her colors. “But what would Catherine de Medici be doing there? Maybe it was a lady-in-waiting who took it. Perhaps it was stolen, and just fell in,” said conservator Vincent Droguet.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, June 25, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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