The greengrocer’s curse
A vegetable seller named Babylas was the target of an alarming curse nearly 2,000 years ago.
Stink raised over landfill at ancient Rome site
There's a big controversy there over a landfill scheduled to open in the new year, near one of Italy's most treasured sites, Hadrian's Villa, where a legendary emperor lived more than 18 hundred years ago.
Drought Led to Demise of Ancient City of Angkor
The ancient city of Angkor — the most famous monument of which is the breathtaking ruined temple of Angkor Wat — might have collapsed due to valiant but ultimately failed efforts to battle drought, scientists find.
German mould-warriors help to save Thailand’s wet books
Anders and his colleagues Oliver Messerschmidt and restorer Jana Moczarskihas from the Centre for Book Preservation (ZfB) in Leipzig were invited by the Geothe Institute to bring their specialist knowledge to Thailand, where no one knows how to save the valuable books from mould and destruction.
China’s tomb raiders laying waste to thousands of years of history
Bulldozers and dynamite used to strip priceless artefacts from remote sites, with booty sold on to wealthy collectors
Myra city awaiting its ‘lost child’ relief
The relief was one of the most important smuggled artifacts in the country and added that it had famously come from a rock grave with many images in Myra
Priceless Roman mosaic irreparably damaged by thieves in Burgos
A priceless IV Century Roman mosaic in Baños de Valderados, Burgos, has been irreparably damaged by thieves, who ripped out three separate sections, including one measuring almost 2.5 square metres, in a theft which was discovered on Wednesday.
Giza gets a facelift
The second phase of the Giza Plateau Development Project is due to be launched in March
Antakya’s mosaics join the virtual world
The project has been prepared so as to better promote the museum’s artifacts to the world and draw more people to the museum in the southern province, Hatay Archaeology Museum Director Nalan Yastı recently told Anatolia news agency
New finds in Stratonikeia
A 2,000-year-old relief bust of a king was discovered during excavations in ancient Stratonikeia in Muğla's Yatağan district.
The Tower of Babel, King Nebuchadnezzar II and the Schøyen Collection
A team of scholars has discovered what might be the oldest representation of the Tower of Babel of Biblical fame, they report in a newly published book.
“Pseudo-Biblical” theme park at the City of David
A hard-line Israeli group said on Tuesday it was launching plans for a new tourist center at the site of a politically sensitive archaeological dig in a largely Arab neighborhood outside Jerusalem's Old City, drawing fire from Palestinian officials.
Masks of abundance
Two masks found in a grave during excavations in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir’s Şarhöyük-Dorylaion Necropolis site are expected to shed light on ancient culture. The masks date back to 1 A.D.
Byzantine-era bath house discovered in Judea
Remains of an ancient bathhouse dating to the Byzantine period were exposed during work being conducted on the modern water infrastructure near Moshav Tarum in the Judean coastal hills.
Is Machu Picchu a giant geoglyph of a bird?
Twenty years ago, architect Enrique Guzman bought a small-scale model of Machu Picchu at the National Museum. What he saw in the model would one day become the basis of his master’s thesis at the National Engineering University. “The citadel was shaped like a bird,” he said.
Violent knights feared post-traumatic stress
Medieval knights are often depicted as bloodthirsty men who enjoyed killing. However, new research has led to the conclusion that this picture is a flawed one, as most knights only killed because it was their job to do so – much like soldiers today.
Greek treasure hunters arrested in Bulgaria
Four Greek treasure hunters have been arrested near the village of Karavelovo, in southeastern Bulgaria, after locals informed the police of their digs at an ancient Thracian burial mound.
Mayas had their own musical scale, say experts
The Mayas had a musical scale very different from the western one, according to experts who examined and played 125 instruments recovered from Maya sites, authorities said.
Curator of Provenance
As more scrutiny attaches to museums, their collection, and their acquisitions, this kind of position will likely become more and more common
They eyes of the prehistoric… shrimp
Anomalocaris was a squidlike predator with grasping claws that lived more than 500 million years ago.
Turks in the Aegean
An ancient port facility that is believed to be the largest one built in the Archaic period has been unearthed during underwater excavations in İzmir’s Urla.
Total makeover for Colossi of Luxor
Project to restore the colossi of Memnon on Luxor’s west bank to go ahead, says Supreme Council of Antiquities
‘Cowboy builders’ blamed for Rome’s crumbling Colosseum
An ambitious attempt to save Rome's Colosseum from collapse is being undermined by the authorities' cost-cutting decision to employ ordinary builders rather than specialists to perform the delicate overhaul, restoration experts have claimed.
Roman murder most foul
Three incomplete skeletons have been uncovered in Modena, Italy, and point to a 2000 year old Roman mystery which is being investigated by archaeologists and researchers from the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of the Emilia-Romagna.