by Sevaan Franks on May 16, 2012
After months of work, a half-size replica of Dover’s Bronze Age boat sank on it’s maiden voyage.
A team of craftsmen and archaeologists had been working for several months to build the replica boat, using the same tools and the same methods as their ancestors would have used when the original boat was built more than 3,500 years earlier.
But time was against them. They only completed the task a couple of hours before the launch was due to take place and there was no time to test it.
A team of rowers, complete with life-jackets, were waiting to go on board, but they were not needed.
[Full story]
Story: Graham Tutthill, East Kent Mercury | Photo: East Kent Mercury
by Sevaan Franks on May 16, 2012
Ancient remains and pottery, dating between 1200 and 1470 A.D., have been unearthed during the digging of a swimming pool in Winter Garden, Florida.
Experts have learned a lot about the artifacts since they were found, but a key question remains: How did they get there?
“This is definitely a secondary burial site,” said Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia.
Pieces of shredded English-language newspaper, dated March 16, 1978, were found alongside the artifacts and added to the mystery.
“We know that they were not placed in that location until after that date,” said Dr. John Schultz, a University of Central Florida anthropology professor who assisted Garavaglia with the remains.
[Full story]
Story: Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph | Photo: BNPS
by Sevaan Franks on May 16, 2012
by Sevaan Franks on May 16, 2012
Border patrol agents in Tucson, Arizona have found two sets of ancient artifacts in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
In late February, Ajo Station agents patrolling on foot came across what they believed to be an ancient bowl hidden in a shady outcropping of rock, the Border Patrol said.
Officials from the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were notified and identified the clay vessel as an olla, an ancient pot that was used to hold water and was stored in shade to keep the water cool, the Border Patrol said.
Agents patrolling in the same mountains in March discovered a second site with similar artifacts that were hidden in the entrance of a cave. The agents photographed the objects and passed the photos along to Organ Pipe officials for removal and preservation, the Border Patrol said.
[Full story]
Story: Janet Rose Jackman, Tucson Sentinel | Photo: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
by Sevaan Franks on May 15, 2012
A fighter plane which crashed landed in the Sahara during WWII has been found preserved by a Polish oil company worker. [Thanks to Catherine for the heads up!]
The Kittyhawk P-40 has remained unseen and untouched since it came down on the sand in June 1942 and has been hailed the “aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun’s Tomb”.
It is thought the pilot survived the crash and initially used his parachute for shelter before making a desperate and futile attempt to reach civilisation by walking out of the desert.
The RAF airman, believed to have been Flight Sergeant Dennis Copping, 24, was never seen again.
[Full story]
Story: Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph | Photo: BNPS
by Sevaan Franks on May 15, 2012
A 3D virtual rendition of the Giza Plateau has been posted online for you to explore. It’s pretty cool!
Engineered by software design firm Dassault Systèmes, in collaboration with Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the free application is available on multiple devices, including 3-D-enabled computer monitors and TVs, and immersive environments.
Indeed, this is not just another too-clean looking and ultimately boring 3-D virtual tour of Egypt’s famous archaeological site.
“Many 3-D models of ancient sites have more to do with fantasy and video games than with archaeology. The colors, surfaces and textures are not researched and appear quite flat or unrealistic,” Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King professor of Egyptology at Harvard University and director of the MFA’s Giza Archives, told Discovery News.
[Full story]
Story: Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News | Photo: Giza 3D
by Sevaan Franks on May 15, 2012
by Sevaan Franks on May 15, 2012
A team of historians and IT folks from Stanford University have developed an online map called ORBIS that calculates how long it took to travel between cities in Ancient Rome and how much it cost. Click here to play with it yourself!
A paper map can show how far two cities are from one another, but in a world of sailing ships and donkey trains, the shortest route wasn’t necessarily the one people would use. ORBIS shows likely routes based on conditions 2,000 years ago. The ORBIS team used ancient maps and records, modern-day weather measurements and modern-day historians’ experiments with trying to sail in Roman-style ships to inform their calculations.
ORBIS helps historians see how the Roman Empire was shaped by the time and cost of moving people and goods between cities, according to the ORBIS website. Cities on the edges of the empire were very expensive to ship to, for example, even if they weren’t necessarily that far away. Here at InnovationNewsDaily, we imagined researchers might use the tool to figure out whether two cities traded often, or to check if someone spotted in one city in January could have made it to another city by March.
[Full story]
Story: InnovationNewsDaily | Photo: ORBIS
