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RUSSIAN archeologists working in a remote area of southern Siberia have discovered a golden treasure hoard in the tomb of a warrior prince from a civilisation that died out more than 2,000 years ago. The tomb was found in Tuva, a republic within Russia and bordering Mongolia. Lying beneath thousands of huge rocks and buried in a deep pit covered with logs, it contains the remains of the Scythian prince and his consort, along with more than 45lb of golden treasure. The team's leader, Konstantin Chugunov, 39, a professor from the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg, has described it as ...

The body of the ice-maiden (aka Ukok Princess, etc.) is finally returning to the Altai Republic in a region close to Russia's frontiers with Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. Her well-preserved remains were discovered in 1993 by Novosibirsk scientist Natalia Polosmak during an archeological expedition. After discovery, she was taken to a scientific institute in Novosibirsk. The local people in the Altai believe the princess's removal led to bad consequences, causing a crash of the helicopter carrying her remains away and a spate of 300 earth tremors in a six month period. Upon return, she'll be kept in a special mausoleum...

Female 'Amazon' warrior buried 2,500 years ago in Altai Mountains was... male By The Siberian Times reporter 01 December 2015 New DNA findings alter the sex of one of most famous recent Siberian archeological finds of human remains. Archeologists and anthropologists believed she was not only female - and a pig-tailed teenager - but a member of an elite corps of warriors within the Pazyryk culture. Picture: Marcel Nyffenegger, Natalia Polosmak A Swiss taxidermy expert brought 'her' to life, recreating the 'virgin' warrior's looks from facial bones, and some observers commented on her distinctly masculine appearance. Yet archeologists and anthropologists believed she...

Archaeologists, led by John Thomas and Mathew Morris of ULAS, have been investigating a series of medieval and post-medieval backyards dating from the 12th century through to the 16th century... Evidence recorded includes stone-lined pits (possibly storage pits or cisterns), rubbish pits, latrines, wells, boundary walls and a possible late 15th or 16th century cellar. Such activity, and the evidence carefully collected and recorded from it, will give important new insights into the lifestyles and industry of the people living along one of Leicester's principle medieval streets... The site lies at the heart of Leicester's historic core, close to significant...

In 1964, Italian fishermen off the coast of the Adriatic Sea pulled out of international waters a nearly complete, life-size ancient bronze statue of an athlete. Standing with his weight on his right leg, the nude athlete reaches with his right arm toward the wreath on his head. Victorious in his competition, he will take off his crown and dedicate it to the gods. "The round face, with wide-set eyes, small nose, motionless cheeks, and petite, pointed chin appears somewhat vacuous," writes Jens M. Daehner of the Victorious Athlete. "The face subtly conveys a state of exhaustion, a situational realism...

The remains of 14 houses and stone tools, including knives, have been described as "one of the biggest complexes of Bronze Age settlement in the Scottish isles". The finds on the beach could be more than 4,000 years old. Archaeologists believe the houses were buried by sand dunes in the second millennium BC -- but have recently been exposed by the actions of weather and the sea. Prof Jane Downes and Christopher Gee, of the University of the Highlands and Islands, Prof Colin Richards, of the University of Manchester and Dr Vicki Cummings, of University of Central Lancashire, made the...

A gruesome discovery in eastern France casts new light on violent conflicts that took lives -- and sometimes just limbs -- around 6,000 years ago. Excavations of a 2-meter-deep circular pit in Bergheim revealed seven human skeletons plus a skull section from an infant strewn atop the remains of seven human arms, say anthropologist Fanny Chenal of Antea Archáologie in Habsheim, France, and her colleagues. Two men, one woman and four children were killed, probably in a raid or other violent encounter, the researchers report in the December Antiquity. Their bodies were piled in a pit that already contained a...

Dutch archaeologists claim they have proof Roman emperor Julius Caesar spent time in what is now present day the Netherlands, after finding remains of a battle site near Oss in Brabant. They say they have found the location where Caesar fought against two German tribes in 55 BC and that this is the first battle field in the Netherlands. Archaeologist Nico Roymans of Amsterdam's VU University, says this is the first time the presence of Julius Caesar on Dutch soil has been proved. Until now, the site of the battle, which Caesar describes in his account of the Gallic...

BEIJING (Reuters) - The French used grapes, Russians fermented potatoes, Koreans put ginseng in their drink and Mexicans distilled cactus plants to make fiery tequila. Now China is introducing fish wine. Sun Keman, an entrepreneur in the northeastern port city of Dalian, has formed the Dalian Fisherman's Song Maritime Biological Brewery, with a plan to use his background in the fishing industry to make fish into wine. "Different from China's thousands of years of brewing, the brewery will clean, boil, and ferment fish for making wine," the official Xinhua news agency reported. The company already had orders from Japan, Russia...

A hoard of Viking coins could change our understanding of English history, after showing how Alfred the Great 'airbrushed' out a rival king A Viking hoard discovered by an amateur metal detectorist could prompt the re-writing of English history, after experts claimed it shows how Alfred the Great "airbrushed" a rival king from history. Ceolwulf II of Mercia is barely mentioned in contemporary records and largely forgotten by history, only briefly described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as an "unwise King's thane". But as of today, his reputation might be rescued after a haul of coins dug up after more than...

In spite of the mystery that usually surrounds ancient shipwrecks, it is almost certain that the ship was sailing a route between Italy, Spain and Portugal in order to transport a precious cargo of Roman garum. The clue lies in the shape of the clay jars, as the sauce itself has all since seeped into the sea. "After we filmed the wreck and analyzed an amphora [clay jar] and some fragments that a robotic craft brought back to the surface, we realized the ship was carrying a huge quantity of fish sauce when it sank," said Trigona. "The amphora are...

A fine thread running through many of our columns is that the legitimacy of Islam’s religious claims to Jerusalem is in inverse proportion to the volume and frequency with which they are made. Now comes along a renowned Muslim Egyptian scholar, of all people, to corroborate our point. Prof. Youssef Ziedan, a specialist in Arabic and Islamic studies and a prolific author, has given a series of interviews to Egyptian television stations in recent days, in all of which he emphasizes one issue: There is actually no connection between Jerusalem and ancient Islam. When Islam was founded during the 7th...

Judging by a real artifact, the sword in the stone legend may be partially based on true events. No one pulled a sword from a stone and went on to become a king, as far as we know. In fact, the sword that exists in reality rather than legend is still stuck in its stone. However, there is no denying that such a sword exists. The stone and sword in question are located at Monte Siepi Chapel in the San Galgano Abbey in Tuscany. The abbey is in Italy and the history of it has naught to do with England....

TORONTO — Dark matter inspires many strange theories, but until now few have involved giant lizards and the origins of humanity. If physicist Lisa Randall’s theory is correct, however, there is a clear link between dark matter, the great unknown majority of universal stuff and the extinction of the dinosaurs, which cleared the path for the rise of mammals, including that special species, homo sapiens. Roughly, her idea is that the rotation of a vast disc of dark matter through our solar system dislodged an asteroid from a weak and distant orbit, and sent it hurtling toward Earth, where it...

You could have bought an ancient religious text online for less than $100. That text was an ancient Greek papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John (likely John 1:50-51), and was listed on eBay with an opening bid of $99, according to The New York Times. The papyrus -- called the "Willoughby Papyrus" since it belonged to Harold Willoughby, a University of Chicago professor, according to the eBay listing -- didn’t stay there for long. Dr. Geoffrey Smith, who researches Christianity at the University of Texas, contacted the seller and asked if he could research the fragment, The Times reported....

It has often been cited as one of the classic examples of how changes in climate have shaped human history. Circa the year 985, Erik the Red led 25 ships from Iceland to Greenland, launching a Norse settlement there and giving the vast ice continent the name "Greenland." Within just a few decades, the Norse -- sometimes also dubbed Vikings -- would make it to Newfoundland as well. They maintained settlements of up to a few thousand people in southwest Greenland for several centuries, keeping livestock and hunting seals, building churches whose ruins still stand today, and sending back valuable...

* The oval piece of clay bears the symbol of a winged sun and hieroglyphs * Archaeologists said it was the private seal of the biblical King Hezekiah * During his rule, the Kingdom of Judah saw its power rise dramatically * The seal has provided new clues about Hezekiah's life and politics ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A 2,700-year-old royal seal bearing the mark of the biblical King Hezekiah has been unearthed in Jerusalem. The tiny oval piece of clay bears the impression of a sun with two wings turned downward, flanked by two ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that symbolise 'life'. King Hezekiah's rule...

The Arab Conquest of Egypt was largely complete by the summer of 642 AD, and on the 17 September the Romans of the Byzantine Empire evacuated Alexandria, the capital of the Egyptian Province, and handed it over to the invading Arabs and Muslims. The Arab occupation of Egypt had started a little more than three years earlier. The first time the invading Arabs touched with their feet the sacred Egyptian soil was in 639 AD. Arab chronology of the Arab Conquest of Egypt is generally not to be trusted as prominent historians have more than once observed; however, there is...

Silver King Mine (1875-1920) In 1873, a soldier named Sullivan, who had been involved in the construction of the road that had become the main route between the Globe area and valleys of the Salt and Gila rivers was returning to camp one evening, when he found several heavy, black nuggets of metallic material near the base of Stoneman’s Grade (Short et al, 1943). Although he had little knowledge of minerals, he figured that he must have found something unusual. He kept the black nuggets and returned to camp without saying any- thing about his discovery to the other soldiers....

Fears are mounting that Islamic State terrorists could destroy an ancient Roman site in Libya which they have seized in their march towards the capital Tripoli. ISIS fanatics travelling in 30 pick-up trucks stormed the coastal city of Sabratha on Wednesday night after three of their men were captured by a rival militia. Black-clad militants overpowered residents and set up checkpoints in the city, which is just 50 miles from Tripoli, before successfully retrieving the three men.