Archaeologists from Leicester University have unearthed stone walls that may be part of the friary where Richard III was buried after his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The king is thought to have been buried under the medieval church’s altar or choir area. “The search for Richard goes on – it is still a long shot, but the archaeological work we have done so far is revealing more about the archaeology of the Greyfriars area than we ever knew before,” said excavator Richard Buckley. Researchers started investigating the site, which had been covered by a parking lot, after comparing modern and medieval maps.

A Neolithic figurine has been uncovered at the Links of Notland on the Orkney Island of Westray, where two similar Bronze Age figurines were found. One of those figurines is thought to be the earliest representation of a human face to be unearthed in Scotland. The coastal village site is being excavated before erosion destroys it.

Two 9,500-year-old stone figurines have been discovered near Jerusalem. One of the figures is of a ram made of limestone; the other is of an ox carved of dolomite. Some scholars think the objects had religious uses; others think they may have served as good luck charms for hunters or be related to the process of animal domestication.

For the past five years, Israeli archaeologist Yoram Haimi has been investigating the Nazi death camp of Sobibor, located in eastern Poland, where an estimated 250,000 European Jews were killed over an 18-month period. The Nazis closed the camp and leveled its buildings in October 1943, following an uprising there. “Because of the lack of information about Sobibor, every little piece of information is significant. No one knew where the gas chambers were,” explained Haimi. Dan Michman, head of Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research, adds: “His details are exact and that is an important tool against Holocaust denial. It’s not memories, it’s based on facts. It’s hard evidence.”

Archaeologists Arlen and Diane Chase of the University of Central Florida, and Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama, tell of their experiences with using Lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, as a tool to produce maps of archaeological sites in inaccessible places. Among other discoveries, these new maps suggest that Mesoamerican cities were larger and more densely populated at the time of the arrival of Europeans than had been previously thought. “It’s the most exciting time in history to be an archaeologist,” said Parcak.

The examination of submerged jetties off the coast of an ancient Viking village in Sweden suggests that the settlement was larger than had been thought, with a large marketplace and a harbor. “The remains of the port structures show that it was actually a port, not just small jetties jutting out onto the beach,” said team leader Andreas Olsson.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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