International Conference on Ancient Studies

L'Organizzazione della Conferenza, che si terrà il prossimo 12 e 13 febbraio alla Zayed University a Dubai, ha reso disponibile il video di presentazione di uno degli eventi più attesi dell'anno.
E' possibile rivederlo al seguente indirizzo web:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F59CpJ-hhvA&feature=player_embedded

Ulteriori informazioni, anche sulla eventuale partecipazione, sono disponbili sul sito:

www.ancient-studies.org

Exploring the Stone Age pantry

The consumption of wild cereals among prehistoric hunters and gatherers appears to be far more ancient than previously thought, according to a University of Calgary archaeologist who has found the oldest example of extensive reliance on cereal and root staples in the diet of early Homo sapiens more than 100,000 years ago.

http://www.physorg.com/news180282295.html

Monument lifted from Cleopatra's underwater city

Archaeologists on Thursday hoisted a 9-ton temple pylon from the waters of the Mediterranean that was part of the palace complex of the fabled Cleopatra before it became submerged for centuries in the harbor of Alexandria.

http://www.physorg.com/news180291107.html

Conferenza Internazionale sulle Civiltà Antiche

Il 5 dicembre, Robert Bauval ha presentato la Conferenza sulle Civiltà Antiche che si terrà alla Zayed University di Dubai il prossimo 12 e 13 febbraio. Alla Conferenza interverranno, tra gli altri, Robert Bauval, Graham Hancock, Robert Schoch, Andrew Collins.
La comunità scentifica indipendente italiana sarà rappresentata dai ricercatori Carlo Dorofatti e Armando Mei.

I dettagli sulla conferenza sono disponibili al seguente indirizzo: www.ancient-studies.org

Chi volesse approfondire le tematiche trattate nell'ambito della Conferenza nonché i profili dei relatori che interveranno, possono consultare la brochure al seguente indirizzo web: http://ancient-studies.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ICAS-2010_web_brochure.pdf

Valley in Jordan inhabited and irrigated for 13,000 years

You can make major discoveries by walking across a field and picking up every loose item you find. Dutch researcher Eva Kaptijn succeeded in discovering - based on 100,000 finds - that the Zerqa Valley in Jordan had been successively inhabited and irrigated for more than 13,000 years. But it was not just communities that built irrigation systems: the irrigation systems also built communities.

http://www.physorg.com/news177784568.html

BOSNIAN PYRAMID PROJECT: FOUR MESSAGES FOR MALAYSIA

The Founder of the "Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" Foundation dr. sci. Sam Semir Osmanagich visited Malaysia in a period November 7th - November 15th, 2009. During his stay in the state of Sarawak dr. Osmanagich participated in Malaysian Global Business Forum dedicated to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Participants from the Bosnian side were the President of the Country dr. Haris Siljadzic, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Alkalaj, Minister of Defense dr. Selmo Cikotic, Rector of University of Sarajevo dr. Faruk Caklovica and several dozens of Bosnian business leaders.

Final day of the Forum both delegations met at the closed-door session. Malaysian delegation was lead by dr. Mahathir Mohamad, ex-prime minister of Malaysia and most distinguished statesman in Asia. Dr. Osmanagich had a speech in front of both delegations and said:

"It's been three and half year since I hosted the visit of H.E. dr. Mahathir. In the meantime, we've spent 200.000 hours in archaeological digging, lab sample analysis, radiocarbon dating, we had First International Scientific Conference about the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids and published a Conference Proceedings with 50 scientific articles about the Bosnian pyramids phenomenon. Those activities are getting us closer to five profound conclusions:

First European pyramids have been discovered in tiny Bosnia
These pyramids are the biggest on the Planet
Bosnian pyramids are most probably the oldest in the world
The most ancient cemented concrete blocks have been discovered in pyramid walls
There exist the most extensive tunnel network under the pyramids
These conclusions require us to re-write our understanding of ancient European and world history. Time has come for positive news from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

I have four messages for students, businessmen and media from Malaysia:

I invite Malaysian and regional philanthropists to support and donate to the investigation of the Bosnian Pyramids project;
I'd like to see Malaysian businessmen invest in touristic infrastructure in the middle Bosnia
I wish Malaysian tour-operators and travel agencies start bringing more Malaysian tourists to Bosnia
I invite students from Malaysia and those who feel young in their hearts to join us in International Summer Camp for Volunteers next summer in Visoko."
Dr. Osmanagich presented dr. Mahathir the ICBP Proceedings during the closed door session.

Two Universities from Malaysia hosted the lectures of Dr. Osmanagich about the "Pyramids in the world and Bosnia". Swinburne University, Sarawak campus, with over 350 students and professors were amazed with the fact that pyramids were built all over the world and, at the same time, that the biggest pyramidal structures are located in Bosnia.

Leading Malaysian University in design Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology in Kuala Lumpur had a magnificent reception for the discoverer of the Bosnian pyramids. Over 300 students and professors were at his lecture. President and Founder of the University of 44,000 students spread out in three continents dr. Lim Kok Wing shared the idea for the city of the future that he's been designing for the Malaysian government. The city is to consist of the glass pyramids. Dr. Wing offered dr. Osmanagich position of scientific advisor at Faculty of Architecture.

New insights into the life of the Maya

Ancient artifacts are almost always concerned with rich and powerful religious and political leaders, but new excavations of an ancient Maya site have unearthed a pyramid decorated with murals depicting the marketing and trading of goods by ordinary people around 1,350 years ago.

http://www.physorg.com/news177582245.html

Forest clearances sealed ancient civilisation's downfall

Archaeologists examining the remains of the Nasca, who once flourished in the valleys of south coastal Peru, have uncovered a sequence of human-induced events which led to their "catastrophic" collapse around 500 AD.

The Nasca are probably best known for the famous "Nazca Lines", giant geoglyphs which they left etched into the surface of the vast, empty desert plain that lies between the Peruvian towns of Nazca and Palpa.

The depictions have spawned various wild theories, including that they were created by aliens. Most scholars now believe that they were sacred pathways which Nasca people followed during the course of their ancient rituals.

Other aspects of Nasca history and culture remain less clearly understood, however. In particular, experts have struggled to explain why a society which clearly prospered during the first half of the first Millennium AD then collapsed into a bloody resource war and eventually vanished.

Some have argued that a mega-El Niño, which hit the region at around that time, may have been the cause. Writing in the journal Latin American Antiquity, however, a team of researchers led by Dr. David Beresford-Jones from the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University, suggest that the Nasca inadvertently wrought their own demise.

Using plant remains gathered in the lower Ica Valley, the team found evidence that over the course of many generations, the Nasca cleared areas of forest to make way for their own agriculture. Studies of pollen samples taken by co-researcher Alex Chepstow-Lusty, of the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, showed that the huarango tree, which once covered what is now a desert area, was gradually replaced by crops such as cotton and maize.

As the paper explains, however, the huarango was more than just a tree - it was a crucial part of the desert's fragile ecosystem, which enhanced soil fertility and moisture and helped to hold the Nasca's narrow, vulnerable irrigation channels in place.

Eventually, they cut down so many trees that they reached a tipping point at which the arid ecosystem was irreversibly damaged. The authors do not dispute that a major, El Niño-style event then occurred - finding hard evidence for this for the first time. But they also find that the impact of this flood would have been far less devastating had the forests which protected the delicate desert ecology still been there.

"THE SAMPLE FROM THE BOSNIAN VALLEY OF THE PYRAMIDS IS ANCIENT CONCRETE!"

The French scientist professor Joseph Davidovits, has communicated the results of electron microscopic analysis performed on the sample of concrete found in the Bosnian Valley of the pyramids, Vratnica site.

Professor Davidovits is discoverer of the geopolymer chemistry and founder of the French Geopolymer Institute. He has authored several books, 130 scientific papers and more than 50 patents in ancient cement, roman concrete and ceramics. Professor Davidovits is honored with the France's highest honor "Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Merite".

In summer 2008 geological core drillings on Vratnica elevation have revealed at a depth of 54 meters (177 ft) the "presence of layers of fine-grained concrete-like material approx. 2 meters in height" (according to the official Report from the leading Bosnian geologist prof.dr. Izet Kubat). The layers of concrete found above and below a cavity 4 meters high is a mixture of fine-grained gravel and water.

One of the samples of concrete were given to dr. Davidovits by Sam Semir Osmanagich, founder of the "Archaeological park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" Foundation during International conference in Edinburgh in October of 2008.

Professor Davidovits performed the analysis of the sample of concrete using electron microscopy at the French Geopolymer Institute and confirmed that the sample taken from the tumulus in Vratnica is ancient concrete.


Photo: Electron microscopy image

More: Photo galerry

RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE UNDERGROUND TUNNEL COMPLEX IN THE BOSNIAN VALLEY OF THE PYRAMIDS

The "Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation" reported that there is an underground network of a dozen tunnels under the pyramid complex in Visoko, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A few hundred meters of tunnels that lead towards the Bosnian pyramid of the Sun have been cleaned and secured for the visitors and researchers. Stalagmites and stalactites have been found in the side passages, from which samples have been taken for analysis in one of the leading laboratories in Poland, at the Institute for physics.

The stalagmite formed in a collapsed part of the tunnel, which means that the age of the tunnel is much older than the age of the stalagmite.

Professor dr. Anna Pazdur of Silesian University of Technology (Gliwice, Poland) signed the Polish laboratory report, and stresses that the age of the stalagmite is 5080 years (+/- 75 years).

This means that the tunnel complex predates other cultures on Bosnian soil from the past: the middle ages Bosnian state (800 years), ancient Rome (2000 years), ancient Greece (2500 years), the Ilyric tribes (2800 years) and the Butmir culture (4600 years).

The age of five thousand years is the minimal age of the tunnel: the date this advanced engineering underground complex was made has yet to be determined. The Foundation is continuing with a multidisciplinary approach to processing the archaeological finding.

Walter Cruttenden and us

From: Armando Mei

Hi Walter,
I'd like to suggest you my theory about the Zep Tepi (Ancient Egypt to define the Golden Age of the Gods Rule). I'm very interested to your opinion about that. I'm sure you are very busy at moment, but I'll wait for you.
By proof. Lloyd Knutson I sent this manuscript to the Smithsonian Institute of Washington also.
By the software Starry Night Pro 6.2.3 I note that the perfect alignment between the Belt of Orion and the Pyramids of Giza, at the Vernal Equinox, occurred in the 36.420BC. when the Meridian cut the star Alnitak (Great Pyramid) and not in the 10.500 BC (Bauval's Theory) when the meridian cut the star Mintaka (Mycerinus Pyramid). In the alignment I suggest, Sirius is over the horizon near the Belt of Orion (in the Bauval's alignment Sirius is not present).
The mathematical process and the astronomical alignment you find in my theory have the same result: 36.000 BC.
Thank you
All the best
Armando

From: Walter Cruttenden

Hi Armando - I will print it out and try to read it soon. Thanks - looks interesting.
Incidentally, the pinnacle of the last Golden Age according to Yukteswar and the Vedic school was 11,500 BC. If you use a variable precession rate (which is closer to reality than Starry Night or other "fixed" precession programs) it will skew calculations by around a thousand years or so. The pinnacle of the Golden Age prior to that (in the prior precession cycle) would have been 35,500 BC.

Also, the date is marked by the "Autumnal Equinox" in Aires. In other words, the last time the Autumnal Equinox was in Aires was about 13000 years ago and prior to that 37,000 years ago.

Another point to consider is the motion of Sirius. Starry Night assumes that it moves like any other star where in fact Sirius seems to follow the Sun and ignores the clock of precession. There is very good evidence for this (see Jed Buchwald at Caltech http://eands.caltech.edu/articles/LXVI4/buchwald.html [note the second diagram]). Consequently, this star is not always to the lower left of Orion's Belt (as we look at it from earth). Sirius seems to act like a crossing star that moves different from all other stars. Bauval was not aware of this fact.

Walter

New ancient Egypt temples discovered in Sinai

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI , Associated Press Writer

This undated hand out picture released Tuesday April 21, 2009, by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities shows Pharaonic King Ramses II, right and Geb, god of earth, carved on a wall at one of four recently unearthed new temples in Qantara amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday April 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities)

(AP) -- Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed four new temples amidst the 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortified city that could have been used to impress foreign delegations visiting Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Tuesday.

Among the discoveries was the largest mud brick temple found in the Sinai with an area of 70 by 80 meters (77 by 87 yards) and fortified with mud walls 3 meters (10 feet) thick, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The find was made in Qantara, 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) east of the Suez Canal. These temples mark the latest discovery by archaeologists digging up the remains of the city on the military road known as "Way of Horus." Horus is a falcon-headed god, who represented the greatest cosmic powers for ancient Egyptians.
The path once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Archaeologist Mohammed Abdel-Maqsoud, chief of the excavation team, said the large brick temple could potentially rewrite the historical and military significance of the Sinai for the ancient Egyptians.
The temple contains four hallways, three stone purification bowls and colorful inscriptions commemorating Ramses I and II. The grandeur and sheer size of the temple could have been used to impress armies and visiting foreign delegations as they arrived in Egypt, authorities said.
The dig has been part of a joint project with the Culture Ministry that started in 1986 to find fortresses along the military road. Hawass said early studies suggested the fortified city had been Egypt's military headquarters from the New Kingdom (1569-1081 B.C.) until the Ptolemaic era, a period lasting about 1500 years.
In a previous find, archaeologists there reported finding the first ever New Kingdom temple to be found in northern Sinai. Studies indicated the temple was built on top of an 18th Dynasty fort (1569-1315 B.C.).
Last year, a collection of reliefs belonging to King Ramses II and King Seti I (1314-1304 B.C.) were also unearthed along with rows of warehouses used by the ancient Egyptian army during the New Kingdom era to store wheat and weapons.
Abdel-Maqsoud said the fortified city corresponded to the inscriptions of the Way of Horus found on the walls of the Karnak Temple in Luxor which illustrated the features of 11 military fortresses that protected Egypt's eastern borders. Only five of them have been discovered to date.

Egypt to search 3 sites for Cleopatra's tomb

By REBECCA SANTANA , Associated Press Writer -->

(AP) -- Archaeologists will begin excavating sites in Egypt next week in an attempt to solve a mystery that has stymied historians for hundreds of years: Where is the final resting place of doomed lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony?

Archaeologists looking for the tombs of the celebrated queen of Egypt and the Roman general, who committed suicide in 31 B.C., will begin excavating three sites at a temple where tombs may be located, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement Wednesday.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony, whose relationship was later immortalized by William Shakespeare and then in a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, could have been buried in a deep shaft in a temple near the Mediterranean Sea, the council said.
Archaeologists last year unearthed the alabaster head of a Cleopatra statue, 22 coins bearing Cleopatra's image and a mask believed to belong to Mark Antony at the temple.
The three sites were identified last month during a radar survey of the temple of Taposiris Magna, the council's statement said. The temple is located near the northern coastal city of Alexandria and was built during the reign of King Ptolemy II (282-246 B.C.)
Teams from Egypt and the Dominican Republic have been excavating the temple for the last three years. They found a number of deep shafts inside the temple, three of which were possibly used for burials. The lovers could be buried in a similar shaft, the statement said.
The lovers committed suicide after being defeated in the battle of Actium. Mark Antony is said to have killed himself with his sword, while Cleopatra is believed to have clutched a poisonous asp to her chest.
However, John Baines, an Egyptologist with Oxford University in England questioned why Augustus, who defeated Antony, would have chosen such a distinguished burial place.
"I don't really see why there should be a particular connection between that site and Antony and Cleopatra," Baines said.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top archaeologist, said the Cleopatra statue and coins - which show an attractive face - debunk a recent theory that the queen was "quite ugly."
"The finds from Taposiris reflect a charm ... and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive," said Hawass, according to the statement.
Academics at Britain's University of Newcastle concluded in 2007 that the queen was not especially attractive. Their conclusion was based on Cleopatra's depiction on a Roman coin that shows her as a sharp-nosed, thin-lipped woman with a protruding chin.
Excavators at the site near Alexandria have already discovered a large previously unknown cemetery outside the temple enclosure. They have also discovered 27 tombs - including a total of 10 mummies.
According to the statement, the style of the tombs indicates they were built during the Greco-Roman period. The presence of the cemetery also indicates that an important person - possibly royalty - could be buried inside the temple.

Herbal wine, just the thing for ailing pharaohs

This undated photo provided by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology courtesy of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo shows the inside of a wine vessel sherd that was buried with one of ancient Egypt's first rulers, Scorpion I, is shown. Herbs have been detected in wine from the tomb many centuries before the civilization's known use of herbal remedies in alcoholic beverages, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(AP) - When great-grandma took a nip of the elderberry wine "for medicinal purposes," she was following a tradition that goes back thousands of years.
Indeed, researchers say they have found evidence that the Egyptians spiked their wine with medicinal herbs as long as 5,000 years ago.
A chemical analysis of pottery dating to 3150 B.C. shows that herbs and resins were added to grape wine, researchers led by Patrick E. McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Adding tree resin to wine to prevent disease was widely known in ancient times, also being reported in ancient China, and continuing into the Middle Ages, the researchers say.
And they note that Egyptian records report that a variety of herbs were mixed in wine, beer and other liquids for medical uses.
Chemicals recovered from the pottery indicate that in addition to wine there were savory, blue tansy and artemisia - a member of the wormwood family - present. Other chemicals indicate the possible presence of balm, senna, coriander, germander, mint, sage and thyme.

Archaeological discovery in Jordan valley: Enormous 'foot-shaped' enclosures

"The 'foot' structures that we found in the Jordan valley are the first sites that the People of Israel built upon entering Canaan and they testify to the biblical concept of ownership of the land with the foot," said archaeologist Prof. Adam Zertal of the University of Haifa, who headed the excavating team that exposed five compounds in the shape of an enormous "foot", that it were likely to have been used at that time to mark ownership of territory.

On the eve of the Passover holiday, researchers from the University of Haifa reveal an exceptional and exciting archaeological discovery that dates back to the time of the People of Israel's settlement in the country: For the first time, enclosed sites identified with the biblical sites termed in Hebrew "gilgal", which were used for assemblies, preparation for battle, and rituals, have been revealed in the Jordan valley. The researchers, headed by Prof. Adam Zertal, exposed five such structures, each in the shape of an enormous "foot", which they suppose functioned during that period to mark ownership on the territory. "I am an archaeologist and only deal with the scientific findings, so I do not go into the additional meanings of the discovery, if there are any," Prof. Zertal said.
The Hebrew word "gilgal" (a camp or stone-structure), is mentioned thirty-nine times in the Bible. The stone enclosures were located in the Jordan valley and the hill country west of it. To this day, no archaeological site has been proposed to be identified with the gilgal. Between the years 1990 and 2008, during the Manasseh Hill-Country Survey that covers Samaria and the Jordan Valley, five such enclosures were found and excavated, all designed in the shape of a human foot. All of these sites were established at the outset of the Iron Age I (the 13th-12th centuries BCE). Based on their size and shape, it is clear that they were used for human assembly and not for animals.
Two of the sites (in Bedhat esh-Sha'ab and Yafit 3) were excavated in the years 2002-2005, under the directorship of Dr. Ben-Yosef and the guidance of Adam Zertal. The findings, mostly of clay vessels and animal bones, date their foundation to the end of the 13th century BCE, and one of them endured up to the 9th or 8th century BCE without architectonic adjustment.
In at least two cases, paved circuits, some two meters wide, were found around the structures. These were probably used to encircle the sites in a ceremony. "Ceremonial encirclement of an area in procession is an important element in the ancient Near East," Prof. Zertal says, adding that the origins of the Hebrew term "hag" (festival) in Semitic languages is from the verb "hug", which means "encircle". Thus, this discovery can also shed new light on the religious processions and the meaning of the Hebrew word for festival, "hag".
Prof. Zertal emphasized that the "foot" held much significance as a symbol of ownership of territory, control over an enemy, connection between people and land, and presence of the Deity. Some of these concepts are mentioned in ancient Egyptian literature. The Bible also has a wealth of references to the importance of the "foot" as a symbol: of ownership over Canaan, the bond between the People of Israel and their land, the link between the People and God's promise to inherit the land, defeating the enemy 'underfoot', and the Temple imaged as a foot.
"The discovery of these 'foot' structures opens an entirely new system of linguistic and historical perceptions," Prof. Zertal emphasizes. He explains that the meaning of the biblical Hebrew word for "foot" - "regel" - is also a "festival", "holiday", and ascending to see the face of God. As such, the source of the Hebrew term "aliya la-regel", literally translated as "ascending to the foot" (and now known in English as a pilgrimage), is attributed to the "foot" sites in the Jordan valley. "Now, following these discoveries, the meanings of the terms become clear. Identifying the 'foot' enclosures as ancient Israeli ceremonial sites leads us to a series of new possibilities to explain the beginnings of Israel, of the People of Israel's festivals and holidays," he stated.
According to Prof. Zertal, the "foot" constructions were used for ceremonial assemblies during Iron Age I (and probably after). When the religious center was moved to Jerusalem and settled there, the command of "aliya la-regel" (pilgrimage) became associated with Jerusalem. The source of the term, however, is in the sites that have now been discovered in the Jordan valley and the Altar on Mt. Ebal. "The biblical text testifies to the antiquity of these compounds in Israel's ceremonials, and the 'foot' structures were built by an organized community that had a central leadership," Prof. Zertal stated. He stressed that there is a direct connection between the biblical ideology, which identifies ownership over the new land with the foot and hence with the shape of the constructions.

Source: University of Haifa

Researchers use CT to examine hidden face in Nefertiti bust

In this undated photo composite released Tuesday, March 31, 2009 by the Radiological Society of North America, the bust of Nefertiti is shown. Researchers in Germany have used a modern medical procedure to uncover a secret within one of ancient Egypt's most treasured artworks _ the bust of Nefertiti has two faces. The differences between the faces, though slight _ creases at the corners of the mouth, a bump on the nose of the stone version _ suggest to Dr. Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school, that someone expressly ordered the adjustments between stone and stucco when royal sculptors immortalized the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten 3,300 years ago. (AP Photo/Radiological Society of North America)
Using CT imaging to study a priceless bust of Nefertiti, researchers have uncovered a delicately carved face in the limestone inner core and gained new insights into methods used to create the ancient masterpiece and information pertinent to its conservation, according to a study published in the April issue of Radiology.
"We acquired a lot of information on how the bust was manufactured more than 3,300 years ago by the royal sculptor," said the study's lead author Alexander Huppertz, M.D., director of the Imaging Science Institute in Berlin, Germany. "We learned that the sculpture has two slightly different faces, and we derived from interpretation of the CT images how to prevent damage of this extremely precious art object."
Nefertiti, the wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, was the most renowned Great Royal Wife of all 31 Egyptian dynasties. Considered one of the greatest finds of ancient Egypt, the bust of Nefertiti was discovered in 1912, during excavation of the studio of famous royal sculptor Thutmose.
The Nefertiti bust consists of a limestone core covered in layers of stucco of varying thickness. The bust was examined using CT for the first time in 1992, but recent advances in CT technology allowed the researchers to analyze the statue in 2007 with greater precision.
"CT has changed significantly since 1992," Dr. Huppertz said. "We can now acquire three-dimensional (3-D) images at a much higher resolution."
Dr. Huppertz and colleagues used a 64-section spiral CT technique with submillimeter section thickness to examine the bust and assess its conservation status, gain information on its creation and provide a 3-D surface reformation of the inner limestone sculpture.
The results showed that a multi-step process was used to create the sculpture. The stucco layer on the face and ears is very thin, but the rear part of the reconstructed crown contains two thick stucco layers. CT images showed several fissures and non-uniform bonding between the layers.
The inner limestone face was delicately sculpted and highly symmetric. Compared to the outer stucco face, the inner face exhibited some differences: less depth in the corners of the eyelids, creases around the corner of the mouth and cheeks, less prominent cheekbones and a slight bump on the ridge of the nose. The ears on the inner sculpture were similar to those visible on the exterior.
Thin-section CT was able to provide detailed images of the inner structure in a completely nondestructive manner and showed the limestone core to be not just a mold, but a skillfully rendered work of art. Retouching the creases in the corners of the mouth and smoothing the bump on the nose on the outer face may have been the artist's choice and reflective of the aesthetic ideals of that era.
CT findings also may be important in preventing future damage to the bust. The findings of multiple, varying layers of stucco, as well as fissures in the shoulders, lower surface of the bust and rear of the crown, indicate vulnerable areas requiring very careful handling, and pressure on the layers of thick stucco is to be avoided.
"Noninvasive CT technology and very advanced 3-D post-processing tools allow us greater insight into the internal composition and conservation status of the sculpture," Dr. Huppertz said. "This knowledge will greatly contribute to the preservation of this priceless antiquity."
The Nefertiti bust is part of the collection of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and will be moved in October 2009 to the recently restored New Museum in the historical center of Berlin. Source: Radiological Society of North America

OSMANAGIC IS A NEW MEMBER OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ALEXANDRIA

The founder of the Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation, Mr. Semir Osmanagic, held two presentations about the four-year research project of the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids in Alexandria, Egypt. Mr. Osmanagic informed the audience about the multidisciplinary approach in the research of the first pyramids discovered in Europe such as satellite, geo-radar, radiocarbon, and geo-archaeological analyses.
The presentations took place at the Faculty of Arts, University of Alexandria, Department of Archeology and History.
Professor Hassan Nadir, the rector of the Faculty of Arts University of Alexandria and the University's Dean, Professor Ashraf Gaber, attended the lecture along with the professors of Classical Archeology, Egyptology, and History.
After the lecture, the President of the University expressed his willingness to closely cooperate with the Foundation in the future.
Osmanagić also held a presentation for the Archaeological Society of Alexandria, which was established in 1895. His hosts were the President of the Association and Founder of the Modern Library of Alexandria, Professor Mostafa El-Abbadi, and Secretary of the Society Professor Monna Haggag, who visited the Bosnian Pyramids in 2008. They spoke with great respect for Osmanagić's discovery.After the successful presentation, Osmanagic was offered a membership to this prestigious institution which he accepted with much pleasure.
The Egyptian experts gave a special attention to the new radiocarbon results of the tested samples from the complex of the underground tunnels beneath the pyramids that point to a much older civilization than the Butmir Culture.

Israeli archaeologists find ancient bathhouse

(AP) -- The Israel Antiquities Authority says archaeologists have discovered a Byzantine-era bathhouse in the south of the country dating back more than 1,500 years.
Archaeologist Gregory Serai headed the excavation and says the impressive size of bathhouse, 20 by 20 yards (meters), showed the area between Beersheba and Gaza was more heavily populated in the Byzantine era then previously thought.
Serai added in Wednesday's statement that the evidence found at the site shows "the villagers based their economy on wine production."
The statement said the bathhouse was destroyed in a cave-in and the site became a garbage dump. The dig precedes work to lay a railroad track through the area.

Maritime Archaeologist at Helm of Modern Journey to Ancient Egyptian Land

Min is 20 meters (66 feet) long and could have carried a cargo of about 15 tons in addition to crew and supplies. The modern reconstruction was built in only six months at an Egyptian shipyard.

Ancient Egyptians may be best known for building pyramids, but internationally renowned maritime archaeologist Cheryl Ward wants the world to know that they were pretty good sailors, too.
Ward, an associate professor of anthropology at The Florida State University, and an international team of archaeologists, shipwrights and sailors recently built a full-scale replica of a 3,800-year-old ship and sailed it on the Red Sea to re-create a voyage to a place the ancient Egyptians called God’s Land, or Punt. Their expedition was financed and filmed as part of a French documentary that will air internationally and on an upcoming episode of “Nova.”
“This project has demonstrated the extraordinary capability of the Egyptians at sea,” Ward said. “Many people, including my fellow archaeologists, think of the Egyptians as tied to the Nile River and lacking in the ability to go to sea. For 25 years, my research has been dedicated to showing the scope of their ability and now, to proving their independently invented approach to ship construction worked magnificently at sea.”
The project grew out of the 2006 discovery of the oldest remains of seafaring ships in the world in manmade caves at Wadi Gawasis, on the edge of the Egyptian desert. The Egyptians used the site to assemble and disassemble ships built of cedar planks and to store the planks, stone anchors and coils of rope until the next expedition -- one that obviously never came. Civil unrest and political instability after the Middle Kingdom period (2040-1640 BC) likely put a halt to further exploration, and the caves were long forgotten, Ward said.
Ward, who serves as principal investigator for maritime archaeology at Wadi Gawasis, determined that the wooden planks found in the caves were nearly 4,000 years old. Based on the shipworms that had tunneled into the planks, she hypothesized that the ships had weathered a long voyage of up to six months, likely to the fabled southern Red Sea trading center of Punt.
Scholars had long known that Egyptians traveled to Punt, but they debated its exact location and whether the Egyptians reached Punt by land or by sea. Some had thought the ancient Egyptians did not have the naval technology to travel long distances by sea, but the findings at Wadi Gawasis confirmed that Egyptians sailed a 2,000-mile round trip voyage to Punt, located in what is today Ethiopia or Yemen, Ward said.
After the discovery at Wadi Gawasis, Valerie Abita of the French production company Sombrero and Co. asked Ward to participate in a documentary about a modern re-creation of the voyage Egyptian female pharaoh Hatsheput sponsored to Punt. Ward designed and supervised the reconstruction of a Punt ship with the assistance of a naval architect, a consulting shipbuilder and an on-site Egyptian archaeologist.
The process involved several trips to Egypt to conduct more research, select a shipyard to build the vessel and choose materials. (It turns out that Douglas fir, the most common Christmas tree in America, is most like the ancient cedar the Egyptians used in terms of strength and density.) Along the way, Ward enlisted the FSU Master Craftsman Program to build small-scale models of the ship to help her to refine details of the plank shape and layout.
By October 2008, the 66-foot-long by 16-foot-wide ship, which Ward dubbed the Min of the Desert, was completed using the techniques of the ancient Egyptians -- no frames, no nails and planks that were designed to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. After immersing the ship in the Nile to permit the timbers to swell closed around the wood fastenings, mounting the rigging and testing the steering system, they transported the complete ship by truck to the Red Sea -- rather than carry it piece by piece across the desert as the ancient Egyptians would have done.
In late December, the 24-person international crew set sail on the Red Sea with Florida State Assistant Professor of English David Vann, an accomplished sailor and acclaimed author, serving as captain. Political limitations as well as an abundance of modern-day pirates along the southern end of the route kept the crew from leaving Egyptian waters, and the voyage ended after seven days and about 150 miles into what would have been a 1,000-mile trip to Punt. But the weeklong voyage provided a new appreciation for the skills and ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians, Ward said, noting that the crew was surprised at how fast the ship was able to travel -- approximately 6 knots, or 7 mph.
“The ship’s speed means that journeys would be made in much less time than Egyptologists had calculated, making the whole voyage simpler and more feasible for the ancients,” she said, adding that it probably took about a month to sail to Punt and two months to return. “The technology we used had not been applied to shipbuilding for more than 3,500 years, and it still works as well today as it did then.”
Not that it was easy.
“When it was time to raise the sail and point our bow south toward the land of Punt, we had only our crew and human energy to rely on,” Ward said. “Whether standing and rowing over the rail, hauling on a line to hoist the sail without the help of pulleys or keeping track of our progress along the shore, we all felt connected to those ancient sailors on their epic voyages.”

Provided by Florida State University

What scents did the ancient Egyptians use?

Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a power-conscious woman who assumed the reins of government in Egypt around the year 1479 B.C. In actual fact, she was only supposed to represent her step-son Thutmose III, who was three years old at the time, until he was old enough to take over. But the interregnum lasted 20 years. "She systematically kept Thutmose out of power", says Michael Höveler-Müller, the curator of Bonn University's Egyptian Museum.

Hatshepsut´s perfume is also presumably a demonstration of her power. "We think it probable that one constituent was incense - the scent of the gods", Michael Höveler-Müller declares. This idea is not so wide of the mark, as it is a known fact that in the course of her regency Haptshepsut undertook an expedition to Punt - the modern Eritrea, and the Egyptians had been importing precious goods such as ebony, ivory, gold, and just this incense, from there since the third millennium B.C. Apparently the expedition brought back whole incense plants, which Hatshepsut then had planted in the vicinity of her funerary temple.
The filigree flacon now under examination by the researchers in Bonn bears an inscription with the name of the Pharaoh. Hence it was probably once in her possession. The vessel is exceptionally well preserved. "So we considered it might be rewarding to have it screened in the University Clinic´s Radiology Department", Höveler-Müller explains. "As far as I know this has never been done before".
This world premier will now in all probability be followed by another one: "The desiccated residues of a fluid can be clearly discerned in the x-ray photographs", the museum´s curator explains. "Our pharmacologists are now going to analyse this sediment". The results could be available in a good year´s time. If they are successful, the scientists in Bonn are even hoping to "reconstruct" the perfume so that, 3,500 years after the death of the woman amongst whose possessions it was found, the scent could then be revitalised.
Hatshepsut died in 1457 B.C. Analysis of the mummy ascribed to her showed that the ruler was apparently between 45 and 60 years of age at the end of her life; that she was also overweight, and suffering from diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and arthritis. Obviously for reasons of security, she was laid to rest in the tomb of her wet nurse. In 1903, over 3,300 years later, the famous Egyptologist Howard Carter stumbled upon the two mummies. However, more than 100 years were to pass before the Pharaoh´s corpse could be identified using DNA and dental analysis in the year 2007. Thutmose III, incidentally, appears not to have shed a single tear for his step-mother, as during his reign he had every image destroyed which showed her as ruler, and which could have belonged to her.

Source: University of Bonn

Ancient golden jewelry found in Egyptian tomb

This undated photo released Tuesday March 10, 2009, by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, shows ancient golden jewelry found in a pharaonic era tomb thought to belong to a senior official under Egypt's most powerful queen, on the west bank of the Nile river in Luxor, Egypt. The Supreme Council of Antiquities says five golden earrings and two rings were found in the tomb of Gahouti, the head of the treasury under Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt some 3,500-years ago. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)
(AP) -- Egyptian officials says archaeologists have found ancient golden jewelry in a pharaonic-era tomb that belonged to a senior official under Egypt's most powerful queen. The Supreme Council of Antiquities says five golden earrings and two rings were found in the tomb of Gahouti, the head of the treasury under Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt 3,500 years ago.

Tuesday's statement says the tomb was located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, a southern Egyptian city famous for its Valley of the Kings and other ruins from pharaonic times.
The tomb had been looted, and its gates were engraved with text from the "Book of the Dead," which Egyptians believed would be needed in the afterlife.

©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Possible Profile of the Prehistoric "Bosnian Culture X"

(Presentation for the Scientific Workshop)

Historical Sciences no longer dispute the fact that the area of central Bosnia and Herzegovina was inhabited several millennia ago due to the fact that rugged Pleistocene Ice Age never reached that area. Throughout a few interglacial's, the vast areas of Eurasia and Americas were covered with thick layers of ice and snow north of the 50th parallel until approximately then thousand years ago.
A deductive observation of the prehistoric "Bosnian Culture X" (ethnically not identified or dated yet) that once flourished, long before Neolithic "Butmir culture", for centuries or even millennia, central Bosnia, can now be described when taking into the consideration the natural elevations in the wide area of Visoko that were artificially modified/shaped into the pyramidal or conical formations, including a net-work of the underground tunnels. This culture is characterized by the great architectural achievements that were covered by the layers of soil and vegetation for many millennia that caused some damage but still survived to the present day. About this developed prehistoric culture the following can be concluded:• it used to be a great, well organized, stable and strong ruling community with a long continuity; they were not a small nomadic hunting-gathering society without a habitat, searching for food to sustain its existence;• it once had a strong and unshakable motivation to accept and perform the extensive and long-term construction work on the ground and under the ground (a network of underground tunnels);• most likely, that motivation was not only abstract but was certainly based on the needs (not known to us) or the benefits that the structures provided;• the prehistoric culture had the necessary ruling and technical resources for this enormous, large and complex project, including the organized production and distribution of food for employees and their families (particularly women and children);• it had developed language for the efficient communication, and possibly, a set of characters as an alphabet, and most certainly, had a great knowledge about the positional astronomy, basic geometry, basic geodesy and elementary math (calculation).Viewed retrospectively from the engineering aspect of performance in the very extensive and complex architectural works of shaping/modifying the suitable elevations into the shapely pyramid and conical formation, it required at least the following:• clear architectural vision, systematic planning (requiring extensive and collaborative organization), exemplary work discipline, and consistent supervision of a great number of people;• work requiring sketching, drawing, and elaborate 3D set-ups (all with crucial details);• creation of appropriate technology, tools and supplies for individual works;• both an efficient formula for producing additives and a technology of making/casting a high quality and durable long life concrete;• experienced knowledge of the statics, fundamental rules and stability of solid stone construction;• adequate measurements and surveys of the terrain before and during the construction works, linear management of the profile’s edges on the pyramid formation, and alignment/stabilization of their surfaces (slopes);• construction of roads, bridges and efficient transport Extensive system of measurement units and reference standards (etalons) upon which angles were based, and measurements for length used during the execution of works; • extensive applications and computations of measurements for the terrain and the constructional elements (concrete blocks); successful determination of the main cardinal points in order to achieve a desired orientation of the edges and sides.Thoroughly comprehensive works in a very wide tunnel network with numerous short blind branches with an unknown purpose calling for:• excellent knowledge of the specific rules and skills of making tunnels in a safe manner (geology and static of soil, lining arches to prevent collapsing, etc.);• appropriate equipment for digging and for the removal of the dug-out material;• efficient lighting, ventilation (which even now still works perfectly within the tunnels) and continu-ous drainage;• reliable orientation underground to continuously direct the tunnel towards its desired destination;• measurements of the tunnels with the goal of controlling the route and profiles of the tunnel during excavation;• labelling of the tunnel’s network in order to achieve the clear orientation and• long-time maintenance of the tunnels while in use.Based on this, it becomes obvious why this prehistoric culture ("The Bosnian Culture X") was a powerful and prosperous community that once had both sufficient knowledge (practical and theoretical) and resources to carry out such works consistently. It can be said that this long-gone culture was once undoubtedly a very large highly-organized community; and currently, it is still not possible to place it in a particular historic time. Without hesitation, we can say for sure this early high prehistoric culture had great knowledge and was aware of the concept of zero.It is very likely that the prehistoric "Bosnian culture X" had its own developed religion that played a very important or even crucial role in its life, which presupposes a powerful priestly class from which its rulers (kings-sages?!) were likely to come.

Roman artefacts found in Pompeii

Roman artefacts which are nearly two thousand years old with similarities to ancient remains found at Pompeii in Italy will be examined at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s ISIS neutron source this weekend. (21-22 February 2009). Researchers hope to learn more about our heritage by discovering whether the items were imported from southern Italy, or manufactured using similar techniques in Britain.

The bronze artefacts, which include a wine-mixing vessel, jugs and ceremonial pan-shaped objects, were discovered in Kent in two high status Roman pit-burials that are among the best examples ever seen in Britain. Previous excavation in an area close to the A2 where the items were found - by construction group Skanska Civil Engineering during a Highways Agency road improvement scheme - had predicted archaeological discoveries, but they were bigger than expected, with settlements ranging from the Bronze Age to the late medieval period.
Archaeological scientists will compare the 1st Century AD artefacts from Kent with those from Pompeii in Italy. The neutron beams at the world-leading ISIS facility allow for detailed crystal structure analysis of intact delicate objects without cutting out a sample of the material.
Dana Goodburn-Brown, a conservator and ancient metals specialist commissioned by Oxford Archaeology, is analysing the artefacts along with archaeological scientist Dr. Evelyne Godfrey at ISIS to see how they were made. It is hoped the experiments will answer many questions about how the items were made to give more insight into their origin: for example, the metals used in manufacturing, how they were cast and finished, and how metal pieces were joined together.
"Our experiments will hopefully aid us in characterising different Roman metalworking practices and perhaps recognising the distinction between imported south Italian goods and high standard copies produced by skilled local craftsman. These artefacts represent a time of great change in Britain - they appear shortly after the Romans arrived in this country, and may represent locals taking on cultural practices of these 'newcomers'," Dana Goodburn-Brown said.
Dr Andrew Taylor, ISIS Director said: "For these rare and highly-valued objects, analysis with neutrons can give fantastic insight. Neutrons are a very powerful way to look at matter at the molecular level and they give unique results that you can’t easily get with any other technique. The measurements are extremely delicate and non-destructive, so the objects are unharmed by the analysis and can be returned to the museums unscathed.
"The neutron beams we have at ISIS are a very versatile research tool and we’re always keen to help researchers answer a broad range of questions. Here we realised that we could take the same analysis methods we developed to look at parts of aircraft and power plants and use them to help archaeologists understand how ancient objects were traded and manufactured."
Provided by Science and Technology Facilities Council

Ritrovata tomba faraone Amenhotep II di 3500 anni fa

Era stata scoperta nel 1880 ma poi ricoperta sotto la sabbia
© APCOM

Il Cairo (Ap) - Un gruppo di archeologi belgi ha portato alla luce, nella zona di Luxor, una tomba di un faraone di circa 3500 anni fa. Lo ha annunciato il Consiglio supremo delle antichità egiziane in un comunicato sottolineando che il team di esperti belgi ha scoperto la tomba di Amenhotep II, figlio di Thutmose III con il quale ha condiviso il potere per alcuni anni durante la diciottesima dinastia. La tomba era già stata scoperta nel 1880 dall'egittologo svedese, Karl Piehl, ma successivamente è stata ricoperta con la sabbia. Secondo il responsabile degli archeologi belgi, Laurent Bavay, le iscrizioni sui muri sono danneggiate mentre quelle sul soffitto sono ancora in buone condizioni.

I faraoni del mare

A Torino i tesori delle città sommerse alle foci del Nilo

Erodoto racconta che Menelao, dopo aver riconquistato sua moglie Elena dall'amante Paride, si mise in viaggio da Troia con il timoniere Canopo e la consorte di questi, Menutis. Colto da una tempesta sulle coste dell'Egitto, il gruppo si fermò alla foce del Nilo per riparare la nave, ma qui Canopo fu morso da un serpente e trasformato in una divinità. Una leggenda legata al nome di una città apparentemente più vicina al mito che alla realtà, anche se molti autori citano quel fiorente centro commerciale e sede di baccanali, caro alla dinastia dei Tolomei.
Situata sul terreno incerto dei territori scomparsi, Canopo ha avuto un destino simile a quello di un altro luogo importante per i riti religiosi, Heracleion, e del porto grande della città di Alessandria, dove si trovava il mitico faro e altre meraviglie del mondo antico. Seguendo la lettera dei testi classici, gli studi e le esplorazioni pioneristiche compiute tra la fine dell'Ottocento e la prima metà del Novecento, un ricercatore dei nostri giorni, il francese Franck Goddio, grazie alla passione, all'intuito, allo spirito di iniziativa e alla capacità organizzativa è riuscito a rendere reali questi luoghi scomparsi. Sommersi per oltre dodici secoli nelle profondità marine dove erano finiti per una serie di calamità naturali, come il maremoto del 365 dopo Cristo e un terremoto nell'ottavo secolo. Dopo quindici anni di immersioni quei tesori sono stati individuati e in parte recuperati: da sabato oltre cinquecento oggetti e monumenti strappati al mare saranno in mostra alla Venaria reale (Torino), con il contributo della Fondazione per l'arte della Compagnia di San Paolo e della Regione Piemonte. (http://www.corriere.it/cultura/09_febbraio_06/eventi_torino_messina_aa2ae720-f481-11dd-952a-00144f02aabc.shtml)
Dino Messina

On Darwin's 200th, a theory still in controversy

By GREGORY KATZ , Associated Press Writer

Director Bob Bloomfield poses for a portrait by the statue of British naturalist Charles Darwin ahead of an interview with the Associated Press at the Natural History Museum in London, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. Bloomfield, special projects director at the museum, said Darwin was cautious not only because he didn't want to offend his wife, but also because he understood that the concept of man's evolution from other animals was controversial. He didn't want to present it simply as a hypothesis, but as an explanation buttressed by many observations and facts. The 1859 publication of "On the Origin of Species" changed scientific thought forever _ and generated opposition that continues to this day. It is this elegant explanation of how species evolve through natural selection that makes Darwin's 200th birthday on Feb. 12 such a major event. (AP Photo/Akira Suemori)

(AP) -- It's well known that Charles Darwin's groundbreaking theory of evolution made many people furious because it contradicted the Biblical view of creation. But few know that it also created problems for Darwin at home with his deeply religious wife, Emma.
Darwin held back the book to avoid offending his wife, said Ruth Padel, the naturalist's great-great-granddaughter. "She said he seemed to be putting God further and further off," Padel said in her north London home. "But they talked it through, and she said, "Don't change any of your ideas for fear of hurting me.'"
The 1859 publication of "On the Origin of Species" changed scientific thought forever - and generated opposition that continues to this day. It is this elegant explanation of how species evolve through natural selection that makes Darwin's 200th birthday on Feb. 12 such a major event.
More than 300 birthday celebrations are planned in Britain alone, where Darwin's face graces the 10-pound bill along with that of Queen Elizabeth II. Shrewsbury, the central England town where Darwin was born and raised, is holding a monthlong festival for its most famous son. And a permanent exhibition re-creating some of his most famous experiments is opening at Down House, his former home near London.
Many more events are planned worldwide, including the Second World Summit on evolution in the Galapagos islands in August. In Australia, the Perth Mint is putting out a special commemorative silver coin.
Even Darwin's ideological adversaries concede that he was a towering figure.
"He was clearly extremely important, his thinking changed the world," said Paul Taylor, a spokesman for Answers in Genesis, a prominent group that rejects Darwin's theory of evolution in favor of a literal interpretation of the Bible. "We disagree with his conclusions, with the way he made extrapolations, but he was a very careful observer and we've got a lot to be grateful for."
Bob Bloomfield, special projects director at London's Museum of Natural History, said Darwin was cautious not only because he didn't want to offend his wife, but also because he understood that the concept of man's evolution from other animals was controversial. He didn't want to present it simply as a hypothesis, but as an explanation buttressed by many observations and facts. "He knew he had to make an absolutely iron-cast case for his theory," Bloomfield said. "He was one of the earliest true scientists where everything he was prepared to write about had to be based on evidence."

Second Ancient Sarcophagus Uncovered in Bali

A sarcophagus, or stone coffin, estimated to be up to 2,500 years old has been found in Bali’s Gianyar district, a local archaeologist said on Monday.
Wayan Suantika, the head of the Denpasar Archeology Agency, told the Jakarta Globe that the sarcophagus had been found on Saturday in Keramas village by Muksin Riadi, a brick maker, while he was digging for brick-making material. It was found 1.5 meters below the surface.
Muksin had immediately stopped digging and reported the finding to the Blahbatuh Police.
Wayan said the size of the sarcophagus suggests that it was most likely used to inter a child, and he made a preliminary estimate that it dated back about 2,300 to 2,500 years. Bones and teeth were also found.
The sarcophagus had a width of 60 centimeters and a height of 49 centimeters.
Wayan said he would lead a team of experts to further examine it today.
“We haven’t opened it yet, so we don’t know what is inside of it,” he said.
It was the second discovery of a sarcophagus within a month, after the first was found on Jan. 13 less than 10 meters away.
Now that two had been found, the agency had assumed the location had been a residential area of people from a Mongoloid race.
Wayan said it was likely that the people buried inside the sarcophagi were from important families.
“Not everybody could be buried in a sarcophagus, only important people or a tribe leader,” Wayan said.
He said the agency would secure the sarcophagus if the landowners did not want to take care of it. They had declined an offer to keep last month’s find and it had been removed to the agency’s office.
The latest finding was the thirteenth sarcophagus in the Gianyar district.
Hundreds have been found across Bali Island.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reports that Malaysian archaeologists have announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human activity in Southeast Asia.
The stone hand-axes were found at Lenggong in Perak state, in a type of rock formed by meteorites, and were sent to a Japanese lab to be dated.
Team leader Mokhtar Saidin said “this is the earliest evidence of Paleolithic culture in the Southeast Asian region.”
Mokhtar, from Malaysia’s University of Science, said he believed the hand-axes were used by homo erectus, an extinct early human.
He said the previous oldest homo erectus fossil discovered in Southeast Asia was from Java and dated at 1.7 million years.

Egypt unveils ancient mummy, part of new discovery

An Egyptian worker holds a torch by one of eight revealed sarcophagi found inside a 26th Dynasty limestone sarcophagus along with other mummies at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo. Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass has unveiled a completely preserved mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus sealed 2,600 years ago during pharaonic times. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Illuminated only by torches and camera lights, Egyptian laborers used crowbars and picks Wednesday to lift the lid off a 2,600-year-old limestone sarcophagus, exposing - for the first time since it was sealed in antiquity - a perfectly preserved mummy.
The mummy, wrapped in dark-stained canvas, is part of Egypt's latest archaeological discovery of a burial chamber 36 feet (11 meters) below ground at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. The find, made three weeks ago, was publicly announced Monday and shown to reporters for the first time Wednesday.
Egypt's archaeology chief Zahi Hawass has dubbed it a "storeroom for mummies," because it houses eight wooden and limestone sarcophagi as well as at least two dozen mummies.
Hawass led a group of international media Wednesday into the burial chamber, supervising as one person at a time was lowered into the shaft, holding on to a rope-pulled winch turned by workers above ground.
"It's moments like these, seeing something for the first time, that hold all the passion of archaeology," Hawass said after the mummy was unveiled.
The find dates back to 640 B.C., or the 26th Dynasty - Egypt's last independent kingdom before a succession of foreign conquerors.
Hawass said the discovery was important because it shows much of the sprawling site at Saqqara, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cairo, has yet to be unearthed. Rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, were buried at Saqqara.
Inside the chamber, 22 mummies lay covered only by sand in four niches dug into the chamber's walls. Most were badly decomposed, showing only skulls and parts of skeletons, with decayed mummy wrappings. The sarcophagi were placed throughout the room.
A dog's mummy - possibly of a pet - was also found along with mummies of children, prompting speculation the chamber holds the remains of a large family, with the richer, more prominent members, buried in the sarcophagi.
"Only the rich could afford to have sarcophagi made of limestone from Thebes," said Hawass. Thebes is an ancient city on the west bank of the Nile, hundreds of miles to the south in what is today's Luxor. "The owner of the dog could have asked that his faithful companion be mummified and accompany him into the afterlife." Hawass said he believes the mummy in the limestone sarcophagus belonged to a nobleman, but so far the mummies' identities remain a mystery.

Pagan cult mosaic found under cathedral

Unusual scenes display several naked figures in mythological scenes

By Rossella Lorenzi

A Roman mosaic floor filled with scenes depicting pagan rites and oriental gods has emerged from the ground of a Catholic church in Italy, archaeologists announced.
The mosaic pavement, which measures 140 square feet and dates to the fourth century A.D., was unearthed at a depth of about 13 feet below the the ground's surface during archaeological investigations in the crypt of the Cathedral of Reggio Emilia, in central-northern Italy.
"The size and design of the mosaic pavement suggest that it formed the floor of a huge room. We believe this was the residence of a wealthy Roman," Renata Curina, the archaeologist in charge of the dig, told Discovery News.
The fact that depictions of pagan gods had lain for hundreds of years just a few meters under the cathedral doesn't come too much as a surprise, according to the archaeologist.
"The church was built on top of preexisting building structures. This is rather normal in Reggio Emilia. We can see that little care was taken of the mosaic floor, since pillars are built on top of it," Curina said.
Made up of small tesserae — tiny tiles — of different materials, which include colored stones, glass cameos and golden leaves, the intricate mosaic floor features geometric designs of circles and squares with little figures of dancers, flowers and birds such as magpies and peacocks.
What makes the mosaic unique, however, are three large mythological scenes.
"So far all scenes show naked figures. We are still trying to figure out their meaning. I believe that more clues might come to light as we continue to dig," Curina said.
The scenes are rather unusual. One shows a naked man falling into someone's arms, another displays two naked figures — a man and a woman — wearing jewels. The woman holds a just caught fish, while the man holds two live ducks.
Another extraordinary scene shows a naked man wearing an ivy crown and holding a lotus flower in his right hand.
In his left hand, the mysterious character holds a lituus. This is a crooked cane which in ancient Rome was used by the augurs as a cult instrument. The cane was regarded as a symbol of a priestly group.
The augurs were religious officials who observed natural signs, such as the flight of birds, in order to interpret them as indications of divine approval or disapproval.
"Symbols such as the lotus flower and the ivy crown might hint that this was a private room dedicated to the cult of oriental gods," Curina said.
According to Luigi Malnati, superintendent of archaeological heritage in Emilia Romagna, such pagan scenes must have been pieced together before 380 A.D., the year when the emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity the state religion. Indeed, a series of decrees in 391-392 A.D. banned and punished pagan cult practices within the empire.

The Russian Rock From Outer Space

Leonardo Vintiñi

An Oopart (Out Of Place ARTifact) is a term applied to dozens of prehistoric objects found in various places around the world that, given their level of technology, are completely at odds with their determined age based on physical, chemical, and/or geological evidence. Ooparts often are frustrating to conventional scientists and a delight to adventurous investigators and individuals interested in alternative scientific theories. Just a few years ago, a strange stone was found in a suburb of Moscow. It has been examined by investigators from various disciplines, but since it exhibits such unusual characteristics, it seems to defy adequate classification. It might even contradict our current understanding of the distant past. While investigations found the specimen to date several millennia before the emergence of man, it appears to hold two screw-like objects. Curiously, several researchers agree that these objects don’t appear to be naturally occurring features but instead display characteristics of manufactured materials. On Aug. 13, 2003, the Russian newspaper Life published an article about the specimen. The report said that the rock was determined to be several million years old, but it contained what some researchers insist can only be the product of an advanced technology. The report describes the objects, resembling a nut and a bolt, found embedded in the stone. As if this remarkable specimen weren’t strange enough, further evidence finds that the rock might not be of Earthly origin at all, but a product of outer space.

More Prehistoric Stone Puzzles
Not long ago, another rock with similar features was found in Russia. Much like the stone described above, this discovery found in the country’s Galus Province also contained an unexpected surprise. When the specimen underwent X-ray analysis, it revealed the shocking image of eight screws held within it.
Another discovery of this type was found a few years back in China’s Mazong Mountain area. While on a research expedition, stone collector Zhilin Wang uncovered a pear-shaped black stone that also contained what looks remarkably like a metal screw. Geologists and collectors from all over the world instantly became intrigued with Wang’s find. News of the discovery brought together more than 10 geologists and global physicists from various research institutions throughout China to examine the mysterious specimen. This extraordinary black rock reveals a screw-threaded metal bar that looks undoubtedly manmade. Yet this metal rod seems to have been naturally encased in the ancient rock, suggesting it is millions of years old. All scientists who have examined the stone agree that this specimen is one of the most valuable archeological finds recently uncovered in China. As all these objects were found embedded within stone, it indicates that they should have already existed before the formation of the rock encasing them. Yet the surrounding rock dates back in some cases to the Paleozoic Era, when creatures such as dinosaurs and trilobites inhabited this planet.While these fantastic objects are certainly unusual, they are by no means rare. Found throughout the world over the last century, numerous discoveries suggesting the remnants of an advanced culture from a distant age have been found frozen in stone. Each find is jarring to the scientific community mainly for the “impossibility” of their existence. In most cases, these examples are given little consideration; they are often written off as technological anomalies or natural oddities because the current anthropological assumptions contradict the evidence obtained. Do these rocks offer real evidence to challenge the currently accepted notion of when mankind first originated? Or are they simply unusually magnificent natural features preserved in prehistoric rock? If we entertain another possibility, as some researchers have theorized, are these odd specimens even native to this planet at all? If so, does it suggest that there were technologically advanced beings inhabiting the far reaches of space millions of years ago? Are these beings still out there, and how did material from their planet reach our world? As more specimens of this type continue to be found and given careful and fair examination, perhaps a new picture of our ancient history will emerge—a history that might seem unfathomable today, given our current limited understanding.

About Pyramids of Bosnia

From: Walter Cruttenden

(Binary Research Institute)

A geologist friend of mine, Robert Schoch, visited Bosnia, did a thorough investigation, and gave a report at the last CPAK (Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge http://www.cpakonline.com/) at the University of California in San Diego. He is a big proponent of ancient civilizations and famed for redating the Sphinx to a much older period but he had to report that the Bosnian site is not a pyramid, it is a natural mountain that just resembles a pyramid. There are some old Roman ruins (about 2000 years old) and a few excavations but there is no sign of any large super structure. Carbon dating of wood could be related to old campfires or temporary structures but without a pyramid they do not indicate any large civilization or advanced knowledge. There are many sites that exceed the dating limits applied by academia but we should forget Bosnia before it gives all of us in the alternative history camp a black eye.
Unlike Bosnia, Gobekli Tepe Turkey is an old site and has been verified by a number of well respected archaeologists.
Cheers
Walter

From: Armando & Nico

To: Walter Cruttenden

Robert Schoch is one of the most famous geologist in the world. We read his considerations about the Bosnian pyramids. However, we wish to know more about this site so may be we will be there in May for a private visit. We are awaiting for Semir Osmanagich confirmation.
Gobekli Tepe is a very interesting site. We have never been there, but this site seems similar to Stonehenge.
We have some questions:
Do you really think Gobekli Tepe was a temple?
Do you agree with dating (11,500/8,000 BC)?
Looking forward
Armando & Nico

STONE BLOCKS FROM THE BOSNIAN PYRAMIDS ANALIZED; RESULT - ANCIENT CONCRETE!

The Institute for materials from the University in Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, published the first results of archaeological samples taken from a number of locations in the Bosnian Valley of Pyramids, reported the "The Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation" that gathered samples and sent them for analysis.

"The builders of the Bosnian pyramids manufactured building materials and built them into the construction of various architectural forms. For this material they used various sized grains of gravel that was available in quantities at the time. They knew the binding properties of natural materials, especially clay, its elasticity, hygroscopicity, and that poorly baked clay crushed with water possesses binding properties", concluded professor Muhamed Pasic from the Institute for materials.

They also used a lime hydrate in order to bind the grains of gravel. They knew about the production of calcite and dolomite lime. The building material of ancient cultures was a gravel-like mix that was made at the site from gravel, binding materials and water, and then the made material would be poured into the slabs at the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun.

The gravel-like material that they made the pyramid from is reminiscent of today's cement concrete from a gravel machine, but highly surpasses its hardness with over 100 Mpa.

This hard material with the hardness of over 100 Mpa have better properties than any other industrial concrete which is made today in Bosnia. Such concrete is made only at special request.

From these adhesive materials (poorly baked clay and dolomit/calcit carbonate) tools were made in special molds and later used to cut and shape sandstone plates found on Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.

Mille anni fa 1/A tazza cioccolato

Lo afferma studio su reperti del Nuovo Messico (Usa)

Tracce di teobromina, una sostanza del cioccolato, sono state trovate in tazze che risalgono a 1000 anni fa rinvenute in Nuovo Messico (Usa). A consumare cacao, non erano solo i Maya, la bevanda si era diffusa a nord molto tempo prima di quanto finora ipotizzato. La ricerca, guidato dall'archeologa Patricia Crown dell'Universita' del Nuovo Messico, conferma, inoltre, che il commercio tra Messico e Nord America avveniva gia' in epoca pre-coloniale su 2000 chilometri di strada.

Malaysian scientists find stone tools 'oldest in Southeast Asia'

Malaysian archaeologists have announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human ancestors in Southeast Asia.

The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak state, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites which was sent to a Japanese lab to be dated.
"We received news from Japan two weeks ago which said it is 1.83 million years old, so this find shows the existence of human beings there 1.83 million years ago," archaeology team leader Mokhtar Saidin told AFP.
"This is the earliest evidence of Paleolithic culture in the Southeast Asian region," said Mokhtar from Malaysia's University of Science, who said he believed the hand-axes were used by homo erectus, an extinct early human.
The archaeologist said that the oldest homo erectus fossil discovered in the region is from Java in Indonesia, and dated at 1.7 million years old.
Internationally, the two oldest fossils are from Georgia (1.8 million years old) and China (between 1.7 and 1.8 million years), he said.
"This new find in Malaysia is actually older than those in Georgia and China, but the difference is that what we found was the tool, and we have to continue to look for the human bones," he said.
The oldest human skeleton ever found in Malaysia is the 11,000-year old Perak man, discovered in 1991.

The Amazing Pyramids of Europe

Ellie Sand

Controversy surrounding the Pyramids at Güimar is not a new thing. For years, experts have been arguing whether the steps of lava stone were just random placements by local farmers as they cleared the land, or whether they were the step formations of pyramids. After all, just like the cultures of Egypt and South America, the Guanche's mummified their dead. The Guanche's are thought to have originated from North African Berber region which is estimated to have been inhabited by the Berbers as far back as 3,000 BC. This region covers Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. They had their own religion. In fact the term ‘Berber' is derived from the Roman word for barbarians and defined non-Arabic tribes. The location of the Berbers/Guanches in North Africa could suggest that there is a link between them and Egypt and therefore it is likely that they would have had some knowledge of the great pyramids of Egypt.There are two main schools of thought regarding similarities found in different cultures. The question is whether those cultures have had contact in the past or whether they developed their similarities independently. Take the bow and arrow for example. Many cultures of the past used the bow and arrow, from medieval England to the jungles of South America. The boomerang is another example. Both the Aboriginal nation of Australia and the ancient Eyptian's used the boomerang. Did they have a common origin or did they develop this tool independently? You see the dilemma here? Did the Guanches build pyramids and mummify their dead as a result of knowledge of ancient Egypt; knowledge that we no longer have? Or did they do this from an independent source of knowledge? Or, in fact, did they build the pyramids at all? Or are they just a pile of lava stones dumped there by local farmers?
Phil Coppens and Sam Semir Osmanagich, two eminent specialists on the subject of pyramids have recently visited Tenerife. Their lecture on 24th of January was insightful and packed with information and intelligent conclusions.
Phil Coppens, is an investigative journalist and author of a number of books including Land of the Gods and The New Pyramid Age and is Editor in Chief of the Dutch magazine Frontier (http://www.phillipcoppens.com/) .
Phil Coppens spoke about the many pyramids that are located around the globe, and included little known pyramids like these in Italy. In fact, this formation conforms to the same shape as those on the Giza plateau, which mirror the three stars in the Belt of the constellation of Orion. But have your heard of these?
His study of a variety of pyramids located around the globe had indicated a number of similarities, including a ‘vault' or cave located beneath these structures and that the corners of the pyramid point to the four cardinal direction of North, South, East and West or to the solstices.. He sites numerous examples of pyramids with this anomaly and has reported that his initial conclusions were that the pyramids at Güimar were in fact genuine, being aligned to the summer solstice and having a ‘cave' beneath its structure. It is also reported by the University of La Laguna that Dr. Heyerdahl is correct in that the stones are not randomly piled up but are in fact deliberately turned with the flat side out. Thor Heyerdahl's expressed wish was that no theory should be forced on visitors to Guimar. In fact the symbol of the exhibit is a question mark leaving each to draw his or her own conclusions.
The case of the Bosnian Pyramid is raising more questions every day. When I first heard that someone was going to give a talk on the Bosnian Pyramids, I must admit that I was sceptical. However, having listened to the talk by Semir Osmanagich I am left in no doubt that what he has found is a genuine pyramid. It is the largest pyramid known to exist standing some 220 metres high and is aligned to the four cardinal points. However, it is presently covered by woodland.
Historian Osmanagich discovered the pyramids while studying the Visoko valley of Bosnia and Herzegovina using satellite, topography, thermal and radar analysis of the country in an attempt to locate anomalies in the landscape and has discovered 9 unusual hills that do not conform to the typical landscape. Five of these have been located in the Visoko region. Further analysis of three of these anomalies has shown paved footways and roads, and a huge network of interconnecting tunnels beneath these pyramids. Coping and corner stones have been exposed, and artefacts have been discovered (http://www.samosmanagich.com/) .
There is little doubt that Osmanagich is onto something and at the end of the day, when one looks at all the evidence (and there is much) one has to conclude that Semir Osmanagich has discovered the first pyramid in Europe and possibly the largest man-made structure found so far on the face of the planet.
Not surprisingly, critics have come forward to denounce Osmanagich's work, but this does not distract or concern him as he keeps his focus on uncovering these extraordinary monuments. If Semir is right, and all the evidence so far would indicate that he is, then the history books will have to be re-written. This, of course, is so often the issue with ‘experts' who would rather that we leave the past we cannot explain buried, where no one will ask questions and the established ‘time line' of history will not be challenged. And so the dilemma arises as to whether we choose to ignore discoveries such as Osmanagich's in favour of believing in what is, essentially a very narrow and mostly incorrect view of our past; or whether we dare to look at such discoveries and question our perception of the history of humankind on this planet. We should never forget, in our quest for the truth, that those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it.

From: meimor@libero.it [mailto:meimor@libero.it]

We are very interested to this Conference. We’ll publish our book: Giza: le Piramidi satellite ed il Codice Segreto (Giza: The Satellite Pyramids and the Secret Code, http://www.lulu.com/content/4734088). The book contains our theory about the historical date of the Zep Tepi. A mathematical process fixes the Time of Osiris.
We have added the link of the International Conference in our blog (http://meimor-antichecivilta.blogspot.com/).
We are very glady to receive more news about the conference to publish on our blog,
We’d like to ask you if you can added our blog on your site, to share more information about antiquities.
Thank you
Armando Mei & Nico Moretto

This is our solution of the mystery of the First Time! We propose that it was in fact a part of the reasons of builders in establishing their “Time Capsule”. That is, they wanted to give a date to their works and their time capsule. Above all, they wanted to celebrate the date of their origins.
All the best

Da: walter@cruttendenpartners.com

Hello Armando and Nico - Thank you for the link.
What is the date you find for Zep Tepi? How do you define the "first Time"? What was it like - and why?
Walter Cruttenden


From: meimor@libero.it [mailto:meimor@libero.it]

Hi Walter,
Many conjectures have been made concerning the monumental complex of Giza. One of the most outstanding theories is that proposed by Robert Bauval known as “The Correlation Theory”.
Still unsolved remains the dispute over the “Zep Tepi” (ancient Egyptian for the “First Time of Osiris” i.e. the period of time of the Gods Rule). While academics agree to confine its purpose to mythology, we believe that their position conflicts with the long lists of sovereigns found so accurately transcribed in Egyptian documents and temples.
In our opinion, the pyramids of Giza originally were built to document and communicate the scientific knowledge of a pre-historical and unknown society. And the Satellite Pyramids had a key role. We believe that in the course of time the initial purpose of the pyramids changed and the constructions were turned into pharaos’ tombs. This would give some credibility to the reasoning of academics, while restoring the initial role of the monuments of Giza.
The key is a date fixed by a mathematical process: 36,900
Armando & Nico


Da: walter@cruttendenpartners.com

Hi Armando and Nico - Thanks for the date. I assume you mean 36,900 years ago or 34,900 B.C. ? That is a long time ago! In my book, Lost Star of Myth and Time, I describe a Golden Age that occurred around 11,500 B.C. According to Yuga cycles as propounded by Sri Yukteswar and others there would also have been a Golden Age in the time period you suggest (24,000 years before 11,500 B.C.). Unfortunately, we can't find too much evidence of such a time as even exposed rock temples would completely erode in about 10,000 years if left exposed to the elements. Nonetheless, the Greek and Vedic cultures imply that civilization far exceeds current estimates.
Cheers
Walter


From: meimor@libero.it

Dear Walter,
thank you very much for your reply.

I assume you mean 36,900 years ago or 34,900 B.C. ?
36.900 BC…
The Royal Canon, found in Egypt in 1822 by Bernardino Drovetti, contains a long list of the sovereigns (gods, demigods and kings) that supposedly had been ruling Egypt over a period of circa 33,000 years before the First Dynasty (3,100 BC). Our proposal is that it was conceived for historic purposes, that is, it was meant to pass on the chronology of the kings. Perhaps the content of the document was at first inspired by a novel historical source and then handed down orally. This would explain possible discrepancies of actual lines of succession.

Unfortunately, we can't find too much evidence of such a time as even exposed rock temples would completely erode in about 10,000 years if left exposed to the elements.
We don’t agree. It is undeniable that “academic” Egyptology has greatly contributed to our knowledge of a unique and incomparable civilization, incredibly developed both socially and artistically. Unfortunately, academic Egyptologists have also persisted in misattributing some archaeological finds to the Egyptians, which we believe have little to do with this civilization. This has created confusion among researchers and has affected our comprehension of the prehistory of Egypt. John Anthony West said us: “As if contemporary Egyptologists know more about ancient Egyptian history than the ancient Egyptians themselves. That's the standard height of academic arrogance”.
The Great Pyramid, Temple of Dendera, Nabta Playa, the discovery of the Ural map during the expedition headed by professor Chouvilov, the source maps of Piri Reis, Buache, Mercator, the mystery of Mohenjo Dharo. The Book of Death (Ancient Egypt), the RgVeda, the Vimanas are only a few traces of a lost civilization lived before the flood.
We must read the traces, the fingerprints of a Lost Civilization.

We are very interested to your book. Where can we found it?
best
Armando & Nico


Da: walter@cruttendenpartners.com

I agree with you, all indications are that ancient Egyptian civilization is far far older than mainstream academia suggests. Moreover, it seems to devolve from the Old Kingdom through the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom until it finally becomes almost nomadic with most knowledge lost. This to me is another indication that the Great Year is real - and it is one of the main themes in my book. It is available at most major bookstores but easiest to buy at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Star-Myth-Walter-Cruttenden/dp/0976763117
It is possible that Zep Tepi means more than a simple Golden Age. It may be a reference to either the very first time Golden Age on earth - or perhaps a reference to an archetypal first time as it exists in consciousness. Given the fact that we are still in a relatively low age it may be difficult to answer this question, based on prevailing evidence. One thing is certain - time will tell.
Incidentally, some of the best hard evidence of a very high time on earth can be found in the stones at Gobekli Tepe Turkey, although they are still not properly understood.
CheersWalter Cruttenden


Walter Cruttenden - Binary Research Institute
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