Jordan has complained to the United Nations in a bid to retrieve the Dead Sea Scrolls, which it claims Israel stole from them in 1967 during the Six-Day War.

Jordan has asked Canada to seize the scrolls, invoking the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which the two countries are signatories.

“So far, Canada has reservations. We are still studying our options,” Tourism and Antiquities Minister Maha Khatib told AFP, without elaborating.

A Canadian foreign ministry spokesman told AFP earlier this month that “it would not be appropriate for Canada to intervene” in differences between Jordan and Israel over the scrolls.

In April, top Palestinian officials called on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to step in to cancel the exhibition.

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A transcript of a diary written by a British soldier who was involved in the deportation of Acadians from Canada has been found in Nova Scotia.

A transcript of the diary was found by historical archeologist Jonathan Fowler and was publicly displayed Thursday at Saint Mary’s University by Fowler and Earle Lockerby, an expert on the deportation.

The deportation forced the French Acadian population from Nova Scotia after they refused to swear an oath of loyalty to the British.

Bancroft was a junior officer to Lt.-Col. John Winslow, whose own diary provides much of what is known about the deportation, which displaced about 7,000 Acadians in 1755 to Britain, Louisiana and France.

The diary also fills in historical gaps at Grand Pre from mid-November to the end of December, when Winslow left Grand Pre for Halifax.

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A paleoindian speartip has been found at the site of a new arena in Windsor, Ontario.

Newmarket archaeologist Kim Slocki said she found a single “projectile point” in her pre-construction survey of the site of a new arena.

“It’s at least 10,000 years old,” Slocki said.

She said the artifact comes from Paleoindian hunters often called the “first people of Ontario.”

Other archeologists familiar with the area said her find is at least 7,000 years older than anything previously discovered there.

Neal Ferris, former regional archaeologist and heritage planner for the province, said Slocki’s find is the first in the Windsor-area going back to the era of Paleoindians.

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The oldest aboriginal camp yet found in the City of Ottawa, Canada, has been unearthed on the Rideau River.

Archeologists believe that the camp on the Rideau River was used periodically by Algonquin people because it was a good site for fishing, hunting and perhaps for gathering berries.

The dig started in early November because a nearby construction project will disturb the site for about a year. The National Capital Commission and scientists working on the dig do not want the location disclosed because souvenir hunters might dig up the riverbank looking for artifacts.

The dig, which unearthed a camp about 80 metres long by perhaps 30 metres wide ended Thursday. Ian Badgley, an NCC archeologist, said the commission hopes the public will eventually be able to work on the Rideau River site and at other Ottawa Valley locations to promote greater awareness of the region’s prehistoric past.

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A gold-rush era ship which sank in a storm 1901 has been found, remarkably intact, at the bottom of a lake in the Yukon Territory.

Archaeologists in Canadas Yukon have found whats believed to be the only untouched shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush, made famous by writers Jack London and Robert Service.

Underwater video, taken with a remote operated vehicle, shows the remarkably intact remains of the A.J. Goddard.

The small iron stern-wheel steamboat sank during an Autumn storm in Lake Laberge in 1901.

Three crew members drowned, while 2 others were saved, found floating and clinging to the ships small pilot house, which broke off when it sank.

The wreck is a time capsule: boots and the jacket of one of the crew lie on the deck, along with a stove, scattered dishes and tools. Just prior to the ship sinking, the crew added more fuel to the fire in a desperate attempt to steam to safety. Today, more than a century later, the boiler door, to the left in the video, still lies open with lightly charred wood in the firebox.

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