The first excavation of a complete barrow cemetery has been conducted in Meigle, Scotland. The five burials included two round barrows, a square barrow, and a double square barrow, containing bones, ceramics, and flint. Archaeologists think the barrow cemetery was in use for several centuries. Carbon dating of the artifacts should provide additional clues. The cemetery was excavated in order to prepare the area for agriculture.

A rare section of sixteenth-century defensive ditches has been uncovered in Leith. The ditches were dug under the orders of Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, as part of the city’s defensive fortifications when Scotland’s government moved to Leith in 1548. The walls were later demolished, and then rebuilt to withstand cannon fire during the seventeenth century. The town walls remained standing until the nineteenth century.

Road construction near Rio de Janeiro has uncovered dozens of archaeological sites which overlap each other, ranging from prehistoric shell mounds to wells dug by Portuguese colonists. “This shows that the European settlers occupied the same areas as the indigenous people. They thought that since the people lived there, the land had to be good. They just seized indigenous lands and settled there,” said Jandira Neto of the Brazilian Archaeology Institute.

Klaus Reicherter of Aachen University says that sediments and seashells from the northern Greek peninsula known as Kassandra indicate that a tsunami was indeed responsible for drowning the Persians who invaded Potidaea in 479 B.C. The event was described by the Greek historian Herodotus. Reicherter suggests that the area is still prone to earthquakes and tsunamis.

A visiting scholar from the British Museum identified fragments of an ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead in the storeroom of Australia’s Queensland Museum. John Taylor explained that the fragments are part of a copy that belonged to a high priest of the Temple of Amun some 3,400 years ago. “So what we’ve got in Brisbane are the missing portions of this ancient book which has been split up, divided across the world for well over a hundred years,” he said. The pieces of the book will be photographed for scholarly work.

Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, is reportedly supporting a plan to build an ancient Rome theme park near the real ancient city. The idea, which could be funded by the Emir of Qatar, is to give tourists a chance to do things such as race chariots and take a Roman bath, extending the average traveler’s stay in the process. One critic likened the plan to “building a zoo in the jungle.”

Antiquities dealer Mousa Khouli has pleaded guilty to “smuggling Egyptian cultural property into the United States and making a false statement to law enforcement authorities,” according to the federal prosecutor’s office in New York. The artifacts in question, including coffins, funerary boats, and limestone figures, were brought into the U.S. between October 2008 and November 2009.

Reports from Mali indicate that rebels have “pillaged and looted” the Ahmad Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research and other institutions where the archives of Timbuktu’s past are kept. UNESCO’s director general, Irina Bokova, has asked that Timbuktu be respected as a “cultural crossroads and center of learning.”

The archaeological collections at the Museum of London have been named the largest in the world by the judges from Guinness World Records. “The city’s water-logged environment is perfect for preserving organic objects,” said Roy Stephenson, head of the Archaeological Collection and Archives. The collection also holds items from around the world.

The grave of church official has been found near the high altar within the ruins of Furness Abbey, in Cumbria, England. The grave has yielded an abbot’s or bishop’s crozier, some of the wood of its staff, and the iron spike at its base. Part of a sweat cloth, made of silk and linen and used to protect the wood of the crook from perspiring hands, was also found. In addition, a ring made of gilded silver was recovered. It has a secret compartment behind its gemstone, and may have been designed to cause discomfort as a symbol of piety. Further research may reveal the identity of the skeletal remains.

Scientists from England traveled to America to conduct acoustic experiments with a full-sized replica of Stonehenge. Bruno Fazenda of the University of Salford tested for echoes, resonances, and whispering gallery effects. “This type of research is important because now we can not only see ourselves surrounded by the stones using virtual reality, but we can also listen how the stone structure would have enveloped people in a sonic experience,” said Fazenda. Was Stonehenge built with acoustics in mind? The data were inconclusive. The Maryhill Stonehenge, located in Washington State, was commissioned as a memorial to fallen soldiers of World War I, and was completed in 1929.

London’s Olympic organizers have cancelled the plan to have a replica Greek trireme, complete with 170 rowers, carry the Olympic flame down the River Thames as part of the opening ceremony to the games this summer. The officials claim the spectacle would be too dangerous, citing overcrowding and security issues. Now the American company refurbishing the vessel and the Greek government may retaliate. The company is threatening to sue, and the government and the Greek navy, which owns the ship, have cancelled plans for a party with British delegates.