While cleaning a ceramic vessel excavated from a Canaanite residential area of Israel’s Tel Megiddo, researchers found that it contained a collection of jewelry wrapped in textiles. The jewelry dates to the eleventh century B.C., is Egyptian in style, and includes a ring, earrings, and beads made from carnelian. One of the earrings, which is decorated with molded ibexes, is thought to be unique. “We work to find parallels to help place the items in their correct cultural and chronological settings, but in this case we still haven’t found anything,” reported Israel Finkelstein and David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University, and Eric Cline of George Washington University.

Road construction work in Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon has given archaeologists access to a Fremont Indian pit house. “We rarely, rarely get to excavate in the canyon,” said contract archaeologist Jody Patterson. The house has a burnt roof, so Patterson hopes the rest of the house will be well preserved. Nine Mile Canyon is often called “the longest art gallery in the world” for its steep walls and more than 1,000 rock art sites.

A round bullaun stone has been discovered in a cemetery on Scotland’s Isle of Canna. Such stones date from 800 A.D. and are marked with Christian crosses. They were placed on top of a rectangular stone so that pilgrims could turn the stone clockwise during prayer. “Stones like this are found in Ireland, where they are known as ‘cursing stones,’ but this is the first to be discovered in Scotland,” said Katherine Forsyth of the University of Glasgow.

At the Vietnam’s Ho Citadel, an intact buffalo skeletonhas been uncovered beneath a wall that surrounds the Nam Giao worshiping platform. Archaeologists think the buffalo was sacrificed in 1402, when the platform was built. The Ho Citadel is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

An earthquake in northeastern Italy has killed six people, left 4,000 homeless, and damaged many historic buildings, such as bell towers, clock towers, and castles. “There are so many monuments here. Such a heritage. It’s depressing. How can we abandon things like this in Italy?” asked Arcangelo Martini, a resident of the Emilia Romagna region.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, May 21, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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