Free Republic

Schröder bows out with a dig at Blair and Bush By Kate Connollyin Berlin (Filed: 13/10/2005) Germany's outgoing chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, took swipes at Britain and America yesterday as he announced that he would not be part of the next government. In a speech to trade unionists in his home town of Hanover, he criticised Tony Blair over his vision for the future of the European Union. Gerhard Schröder yesterday "I say to my British friend that people in Germany, in Europe, do not want complete denationalisation," he said. "They want a state that is not in front of their...

Neolithic agricultural community’s daily life shown in amazing detail in dig at ancient site Well-preserved settlement in Kastoria, northern Greece, dating 7,500 years ago illuminates the characteristics of rural life of the times Remains of buildings (trenches for foundations, poles, wall coating, floorings) in the western section of the excavation. By Iota Sykka - Kathimerini The finds at Avgi in Kastoria are far from common. At a site of 3.5 hectares near the Aghia Triada municipality, a 7,500-year-old rural community has been unearthed. Rare miniature vessels the size of a ring, nine fine impressive stamps, 20 human and animal-shaped idols,...

Dig unearths 1,500 year old 'Tarbat Man' HUMAN remains have been discovered at Portmahomack - but police will not be called in as the skeleton is thought to be around 1,500 years old and likely to be that of a Pictish monk. The discovery was made by archaeologists from the University of York who come to the Port each season to dig in the grounds of the Tarbat Old Church, one of the most important Pictish sites in Scotland. They are excited by the find came in the last week of the archaeological dig and means that the team will...

Well...I believe the majority of us end up in the Indian Ocean...Not even close to China...

Dig reveals more of isles' bloody history JOHN ROSS NEW evidence of bloody clan battles at a medieval stronghold in the Western Isles has been unearthed by archaeologists. A team from Glasgow University has revealed a fortified settlement on Dun Eistean, a sea stack on the north-east coast of Lewis, thought to have been a refuge and spiritual home for the Clan Morrison 400 to 800 years ago. The discovery of musket balls, a lookout tower and a defensive wall around the perimeter of the island points to battles with the Morrisons' fierce rivals, including the Macaulays. Rachel Barrowman and...

Dig backs biblical account of Philistine city of GatLast update - 02:53 09/08/2005 By Amiram BarkatThe moat running around Gat that was to enforce the siege. David Bachar New evidence regarding the bitter end of Gat, the largest and most important Philistine city, was recently unearthed at a dig at Tel Zafit near the Masmia intersection in the Lachish region. According to Kings II (12:18), Gat was conquered by King Hazael of Aram. He intended to capture Jerusalem as well, but King Jehoash of Judah saved the capital while losing treasure taken from the Temple (Kings II 14:14). Findings at...

Scientists seek fresh chance to dig up Stonehenge's secrets Robin McKie, science editor Sunday July 24, 2005 The Observer (UK) Stonehenge has always mystified. Julius Caesar thought it was the work of druids, medieval scholars believed it was the handiwork of Merlin, while local folk tales simply blamed the devil. Now scientists are demanding a full-scale research programme be launched to update our knowledge of the monument and discover precisely who built it and its burial barrow graves. This is the key recommendation of Stonehenge: an Archaeological Research Framework, edited by Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University, soon to be published...

FURNESS DIG MAY HAVE FOUND ST PATRICK'S BIRTHPLACE Published on 12/07/2005 ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have found the birthplace of St Patrick. A dig in Urswick has uncovered a Roman fort which may be the Banna Vernta Berniae, thought by scholars to be where Ireland’s patron saint was born. Excavations are being led by Steve Dickinson, from Ulverston, who tutors archaeology at Lancaster University. Evidence of the Romans in Furness is rare. But Mr Dickinson is convinced the finds at Urswick are Roman with their typical layout of foundations and ditches. Mr Dickinson said: “I can’t tell you how important it...

North Korea to help Iran dig secret missile bunkersBy Con Coughlin(Filed: 12/06/2005) Iran is secretly negotiating with North Korea to build a network of underground bunkers to conceal its clandestine nuclear weapons project. A team of construction experts has arrived in Teheran to conduct a survey of Iranian requirements. It included a senior North Korean specialist in underground construction who helped to design the bunkers that contain Pyongyang's illegal weapons programme. Current talks centre on whether the North Koreans will undertake the work for the Iranians, or act as advisers to Iranian construction companies. The North Koreans specialise in the...

Tiberias dig unearths very rare marble floor By Eli Ashkenazi A marble floor dating from the first century CE was unearthed during this season's excavations of ancient Tiberias. According to archaeologist Professor Yizhar Hirschfeld, director of the three-week dig that ended yesterday, the floor is apparently a remnant of a pavement in the palace of Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, who ruled the Galilee from 4 BCE to 38 CE.

Archeologists dig up ancient casting centre (05-04-2005) Story in stone: An arterfact found at Den Citadel. — Archeologists claim to have found the country’s largest Bronze Age metallurgy centre, estimated to be 3,500 years old. The site, located at the Den Citadel in Phu My Hamlet, Tu Lap Commune, Me Linh District, in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, has yielded many discoveries which indicate that the site is the largest centre of bronze casting in Viet Nam to have been discovered so far, said Lam Thi My Dung, director of the Museum of Anthropology. Metallurgy and bronze-casting are representative...

Scientists Interrupt Search for the “Mayan Atlantis" in the Caribbean. Cuban Newpaper: GRANMA Mexico City, November 6, 2004 Forwarded by David Drewelow This story updates this prior story . - A group of scientists searching for a hypothetical “Mayan Atlantis" found a pyramid of 35 meters under the waters of the Caribbean, but it had to interrupt the mission due to technical problems, as reported by the Mexican newspaper Millenium, today. After 25 days of work in the sea, near the southwestern end of Cuba, the investigations deeper than 500 meters had to be abandoned due to problems with the...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Archaeologist continues to dig up history By Marjorie Wertz For The Tribune-Review Sunday, October 17, 2004 In the past 30 years archaeologists worldwide have visited the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Washington County. The general public can now see what's involved in the archaeological dig that has proved the existence of early humans dating back 16,000 years. "The site was opened last year for the first time to the public," said David Scofield, director of Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life. "We are now in the process of getting an architect to create a design for a permanent roof over the excavation. This...

Did the First Americans Come From, Er, Australia? Mon Sep 6, 9:24 AM ET EXETER, England (Reuters) - Anthropologists stepped into a hornets' nest on Monday, revealing research that suggests the original inhabitants of America may in fact have come from what is now known as Australia.   The claim will be extremely unwelcome to today's native Americans who came overland from Siberia and say they were there first. But Silvia Gonzalez from John Moores University in Liverpool said skeletal evidence pointed strongly to this unpalatable truth and hinted that recovered DNA would corroborate it. "This is very contentious," Gonzalez,...

RAWLINGS, Md. -- Robert D. Wall is too careful a scientist to say he's on the verge of a sensational discovery. But the soybean field where the Towson University anthropologist has been digging for more than a decade is yielding hints that someone camped there, on the banks of the Potomac River, as early as 14,000 B.C. If further digging and carbon dating confirm it, the field in Allegany County could be among the oldest and most important archaeological sites in the Americas.

‘Scientific American’ shines spotlight on S.C. dig By DOUG NYETelevision Editor Posted on Tue, Jul. 20, 2004 About 12,000 years ago, the first people to journey to the American continents did so by crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia. At least, that’s what archaeologists have long believed. But tonight’s edition of “Scientific American Frontiers” examines five archaeological sites that could prove that humans walked this land much earlier. Among the digs spotlighted is USC’s Topper excavation site in Allendale County, supervised by archaeologist Albert C. Goodyear, director of the Allendale Paleo-Indian Expedition of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and...

Wednesday, June 2, 2004. Dig Under Manezh Yields Surprises By Kevin O'Flynn Staff Writer Itar-Tass Alexander Veksler showing a rare sword from the 13th or 14th century that was dug up from beneath the Manezh hall. She was a fashionable young woman of her time. Wealthy and sophisticated, with a bracelet on one arm and rings, she was buried close to the Kremlin -- where she lay entombed for about 850 years. The young woman is among 40 human remains, a centuries-old sword, a rare Peter the Great coin and hundreds of other artifacts unearthed recently beneath the Central Manezh...

The oldest known evidence of people keeping cats as pets may have been discovered by archaeologists. The discovery of a cat buried with what could be its owner in a Neolithic grave on Cyprus suggests domestication of cats had begun 9,500 years ago. It was thought the Egyptians were first to domesticate cats, with the earliest evidence dating to 2,000-1,900 BC. French researchers writing in Science magazine show that the process actually began much earlier than that. The evidence comes from the Neolithic, or late stone age, village of Shillourokambos on Cyprus, which was inhabited from the 9th to the...