Donegal brain surgeon at work in AD 800, burial site reveals

BRAIN SURGERY was being carried out in Ireland more than 1,000 years ago – and patients survived.

People with disabilities were treated with compassion and respect within their communities in medieval Ireland but TB and other diseases, possibly including cancer, claimed many lives while others died by the sword.

A multitude of insights about life and death in Gaelic Ireland were gleaned following the discovery of an unknown medieval church and the graves of about 1,300 men, women and children who lived along the banks of the river Erne at Ballyhanna, Co Donegal, several hundred years ago.

The burial ground, which spanned several centuries, was found during the construction of the Ballyshannon/ Bundoran bypass in 2003.

Last night, as part of Science Week Ireland, a team of archaeologists and scientists from Sligo Institute of Technology and Queen’s University Belfast, who are involved in the Ballyhanna project, outlined their findings to date.

Read more

Vanished Persian Army Found in Desert

The remains of a mighty Persian army said to have drowned in the sands of the western Egyptian desert 2,500 years ago might have been finally located, solving one of archaeology’s biggest outstanding mysteries, according to Italian researchers.

Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones found in the vast desolate wilderness of the Sahara desert have raised hopes of finally finding the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II. The 50,000 warriors were said to be buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C.

Read more:

Prehistoric burial ground found on Skye

A PREHISTORIC burial ground has been discovered on Skye.

Six slab-lined graves and six cremation pits have been unearthed on the excavation site close to Armadale pier on the Sleat peninsula. Experts say it is one of the most significant archaeological finds yet made in the Highlands.

Flint tools and urns were found inside the graves, although skeletal remains had been damaged due to the tide.

The contents of the burial site are being removed by a team of archaeologists from Inverness and Skye. They could be reconstructed and relocated to a new site at Armadale.

 Read more

Truly Treasure: The Stories of Objects Found on Hadrian’s Wall

Over the years archaeologists have moved from simply classifying the objects they excavate to understanding the stories they have to tell about all aspects of life on the Roman Frontier.

One of the most pioneering practioners in this area was the late Vivien Swan, whose work on ceramics has revealed much about the different peoples garrisoned on Hadrian’s Wall. This conference is the Arbeia Society’s tribute to Vivien and her work.

To be held on the 21st November 2009 at the Customs House, South Shields

Times: 10am – 5pm

Fees
£19

£16 Arbeia Society Members, FT students, UB40s and OAP.

Web: http://www.arbeiasociety.org.uk/nextcon.htm

Divers probe Mayan ruins submerged in Guatemala lake

Scuba divers are exploring the depths of a volcanic lake in Guatemala to find clues about an ancient sacred island where Mayan pilgrims flocked to worship before it was submerged by rising waters.

Samabaj, the first underwater archaeological ruins excavated in Guatemala, were discovered accidentally 12 years ago by a diver exploring picturesque Lake Atitlan, ringed by Mayan villages and popular with foreign tourists.

“No one believed me, even when I told them all about it. They just said ‘he’s mad’,” said Roberto Samayoa, a businessman and recreational diver who grew up near the lake where his grandmother told him legends of a sunken church.

Read more

Volunteer for New Forest National Park Coastal Heritage Project

Although the Solent has a rich coastal heritage we know very little about it and suspect there is much to be discovered. The Coastal Heritage Project has therefore been set up both to fully record the archaeology of the Hampshire coastline and to share this with as many people as possible.

The project extends beyond the New Forest National Park boundary north to Redbridge and west to the Hampshire-Dorset border. It covers 82 kilometres of coast and includes the area 10 metres above sea level through the intertidal zone to six nautical miles off shore.

The Project will help to inform decisions about the future management of the coastal margin, especially as we respond to rising sea levels and specific threats to archaeological sites. This local project forms part of the larger national English Heritage Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment programme.

A  range of exciting educational initiatives  are planned to promote the coastal heritage of the New Forest and involve local people of all ages.

There are three stages to the project:

1. Desk Based Assessment

2. Fieldwork

3. Interpretation and Dissemination

Expressions of interest as currently being requested from people who would like to volunteer with fieldwork and perhaps other aspects of the project, this will involve fieldwork on the coastal margin and also opportunities for diving fieldwork within the Solent. Please register your interest by visiting the website, http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/coastal completing and returning the volunteer form or by emailing: archaeology@newforestnpa.gov.uk.

At Ur, Ritual Deaths That Were Anything but Serene

A new examination of skulls from the royal cemetery at Ur, discovered in Iraq almost a century ago, appears to support a more grisly interpretation than before of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia, archaeologists say.

Palace attendants, as part of royal mortuary ritual, were not dosed with poison to meet a rather serene death. Instead, a sharp instrument, a pike perhaps, was driven into their heads.

Read more

Edinburgh and Lothians Archaeology Conference 2009

Edinburgh and Lothians Archaeology Conference Saturday December 5th 2009
This year’s annual archaeology conference is to be held on Saturday December 5th at the Queen Margaret University. 

Tickets cost £20 (£12) for the day conference and a lunch time buffet can be pre-booked for £8. Either complete the form and send in by post or email bookings@eastlothian.gov.uk

www.eastlothian.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=929

Mystery stone found near church linked to Knights Templar

A MYSTERIOUS carved stone has been uncovered alongside a 12th-century church associated with the Knights Templar.

What appears to be the carved top of a sarcophagus was unearthed when builders were excavating and reinforcing a wall alongside the old ruined church in Temple, Midlothian.

But the inscriptions, which include symbols similar to those found in Viking monuments, in medieval graves and in West Highland Celtic carvings, have baffled archaeologists.

Read more

Archaeology Summer Training at Birkbeck – London

Syon Archaeological Training Excavation
Syon, the only Bridgettine Abbey founded in medieval England, was built on Royal lands bordering the Thames in the early fifteenth century. Well endowed, at the time of the Dissolution it was ranked as the tenth wealthiest religious house and the richest nunnery in England. These excavations aim to discover more about the lost church and monastic complex and to investigate the succeeding series of formal gardens, part of the landscape of Syon House, the sixteenth-century aristocratic residence established here in the wake of the Dissolution.

Dates: Week long sessions between 7 JUne and 9 July 2010
Cost: £200/£230 per session

Archaeological Recording of Standing Buildings Week
This module introduces you to an approach to understanding historic buildings and areas, and examines the concepts, skills and methods designed to undertake the process of investigation, survey and interpretation. You will carry out a characterisation study and the intensive analysis and recording of a single historic building.

Dates: 14 – 18 June 2010
Cost: £200/£230

Environmental Archaeology Week
This module provides an introduction to the development of environmental archaeology, retrieval techniques and geo-archaeology, and to the study of plants, as well as animal and human bones. The course combines on-site ‘classroom’ meetings with practical sessions, including sampling, sieving and fieldwork.

Dates: 21 – 25 June 2010
Cost: £200/£230

Syon Archaeological Geophysics Week
This five-day practical course, held at Syon House, introduces a range of archaeological geophysical techniques (for example electrical resistance surveying and magnetic surveying). We will collect and process data to provide information about the location and nature of buried archaeological features, to familiarise you with geophysical techniques and the associated instruments and equipment. You will practise these techniques and gain an awareness of their strengths and limitations. You will carry out surveying to locate buried remains of the medieval Syon Abbey and the succeeding historic formal gardens of Syon House.

Dates: 28June – 2 July 2010
Cost: £200/£230

These modules are open to all those with an interest in archaeology or who want to gain experience in the techniques of archaeological excavation. No previous experience is necessary. You are welcome to attend for more than one week, but each week will stand alone. Tuition on site will be led by Harvey Sheldon and supplemented by a team of specialists.

Website: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/ce/summerschools/awards/XSCAR002.html