Road construction near the ancient Roman port of Ostia has uncovered a 2,000-year-old wooden ship. “It shows that the coastline during during ancient Roman times was some 3-4 kilometres farther inland than it is now,” said Ostia archaeology official Anna Maria Moretti . The wooden ship was about 11 metres long, making it one of [...]
The remains of a girl stabbed in the head by a Roman sword has been found in Kent, England. Dr Wilkinson said that she had been between 16 and 20 years old when she was killed, and her bones suggested that she had been in good health. He also believes the body had then been [...]
By Jane O'Brien - BBC News
Alain Touwaide looks at some of the ancient texts he has used in his research.
DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old plants recovered from an Italian shipwreck could offer scientists the key to new medicines. Carrots, parsley and wild onions were among the samples preserved in clay pills on board the merchant trading vessel that sank around 120 BC. It's believed the plants were used by doctors to treat intestinal disorders among the ship's crew. Such remedies are described...
Illustration Robert Doornbos By Eric Gaertner - Mlive
The long, mysterious trip of a Muskegon lumber schooner's final voyage is figuratively over.An exhibit is set to open next week in Muskegon to honor the Hackley & Hume schooner Thomas Hume, its sinking in Lake Michigan nearly 120 years ago and Muskegon's lumbering era. The exhibit, entitled “Unsolved Mysteries: The Shipwreck Thomas Hume,” will be open for public viewing beginning Wednesday in the City Barn at the Hackley...
Archaeologists excavating an area where a bridge is scheduled to be built between modern-day Ostia and Fiumicino, the town just outside Rome where Leonardo da Vinci airport is found, have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman ship. The 11-meter (36-foot) section is from one of the sides of the ship. So far neither the [...]
On April 28, 1947, a six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Callao, Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. Heyerdahl’s book, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, was an international best seller and the documentary, Kon Tiki, which was directed by Heyerdahl, [...]
DNA extracted from pills found on a 2,000-year-old Italian shipwreck may offer up new medical insights. “Medicinal plants have been identified before, but not a compound medicine, so this is really something new,” says Alain Touwaide, director of the Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions, which has the world’s largest digital database of medical [...]
By Amy Oliver - Daily Mail
A chance encounter with a fisherman has led one team of treasure hunters to discover what they believe is the oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean. And after only diving the site - located off the Dominican Republic coast - a handful of times, the team at Deep Blue Marine has unearthed some serious treasure.At the last count Captain Billy Rawson and his crew had uncovered 700 silver coins that could be worth millions, jade figurines and even a mirrored stone that was possibly...
Treasures hunters in the Caribbean have found the oldest shipwreck in the area off the Dominican Republic coast. At the last count Captain Billy Rawson and his crew had uncovered 700 silver coins that could be worth millions, jade figurines and even a mirrored stone that was possibly used in Shamanic rituals. Everything was in [...]
hoto arol Goodwin
By Wynne Parry - Live Science
Five days after the passenger ship the Titanic sank, the crew of the rescue ship Mackay-Bennett pulled the body of a fair-haired, roughly 2-year-old boy out of the Atlantic Ocean on April 21, 1912. Along with many other victims, his body went to a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the crew of the Mackay-Bennett had a headstone dedicated to the "unknown child" placed over his grave. hen it sank, the Titanic took the lives...
Five days after the Titanic sank, the body of a child was pulled from the ocean and buried in Halifax under the maker “Unknown child”. Nearly 100 years later the child’s name has finally been identified. When it sank, the Titanic took the lives of 1,497 of the 2,209 people aboard with it. Some bodies [...]
Archaeologists have been excavating Buckton Castle in England, a medieval castle left unfinished due to political change. It was occupied for less than 100 years during a time when the King of Scotland lay claim to Lancashire and Cumberland. The University of Salford’s Brian Grimsditch said, due to the unrest, “local rulers like the Earl [...]
Check out this interesting photo gallery of images plucked from the Burns Archives, one of America’s largest collections of historical images. It’s well worth the browse. Man Tarred and Feathered, 1940 This 1940 press photo shows a victim of the oft-used but rarely documents practice of tarring and feathering. The hot, sticky liquid was poured [...]
The discovery of three Neanderthal graves in Spain is raising questions about whether they believed in an afterlife. The deceased appear to have been intentionally buried, with each Neanderthal’s arms folded such that the hands were close to the head. Remains of other Neanderthals have been found in this position, suggesting that it held meaning. [...]
From China.org
An archaeological salvage team has restarted to retreat cultural relics from the wreckage of an ancient merchant ship that sank near the coast of today's Guangdong Province some hundreds of years ago.The team plans to complete the salvage of all the relics from "Nan'ao No. 1" in 75 days. The retrieval of the shipwreck is not included in this year's task, officials in charge of the salvage said.A large number of porcelain dishwares with exquisite graphic paintings have been found...
By .S. Mudur - Telegraph India
Mariners from India’ east coast exploited monsoon winds to sail to southeast Asia more than 2,000 years ago, an archaeologist has proposed, challenging a long-standing view that a Greek navigator had discovered monsoon winds much later. Sila Tripati at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, has combined archaeological, meteorological, and literary data to suggest that Indian mariners were sailing to southeast Asia riding monsoon winds as...
By Eryl Crump - Daily Post
Whisky bottles are still being found where they were buried after a shipwreck 110 years ago, off the Llyn peninsula.Sailing ship Stuart set sail from Liverpool on Good Friday 1901, bound for New Zealand carrying cargo that included pianos, cotton bales, porcelain and thousands of bottles of whisky.The vessel came to grief near Porth Colmon on the north coast near Tudweiliog on a foggy and drizzly Easter Sunday morning. But Capt Robert Hichinson and his crew of 18 got...
By Jackie Shecker Finch - Herald times Online
After a severe four-year drought, two fishermen were walking alongside the Sea of Galilee when they made an amazing discovery. Buried in the sea was the barely visible remains of an ancient boat. At its lowest level in memory, the Sea of Galilee in 1986 was unveiling its tremendous treasure. The brothers were shocked, however, to learn just how old the muddy boat turned out to be. Carbon dating and other techniques traced the large vessel to the time...
From The local
It's been 50 years since the centuries-old Vasa warship was hoisted up from the depths of Stockholm harbour, but as contributor Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius discovers, preserving this national treasure has been the Vasa's greatest battle.
The 17th century Vasa warship, Sweden’ most recognizable maritime artifact and archeological asset, celebrates the 50th anniversary of her liberation from the gloom and anonymity of the shallows of Stockholm’ inner harbor. On April...
From aul Fraser Collectibles
An annotated technical drawing of the Titanic used in the 1912 British investigation is attracting collectorsA plan of the Titanic used in the inquest into its sinking in 1912 is coming to auction later this year.Valued at £100,000, the 33-foot long technical drawing is marked with arrows and notes, depicting where survivors of the disaster thought the iceberg had struck.It was used in the British Board of Trade's inquiry between May and July 1912, which...
Mining companies in Australia are damaging Aboriginal sites by dodging Queensland Aboriginal cultural heritage laws. The allegation follows claims a Queensland coal seam gas company has destroyed ancient Aboriginal stone arrangements at Kogan, near Dalby. Indigenous academic Dr Jillian Marsh told AAP laws aimed at protecting indigenous sacred sites are generally tokenistic and toothless. She [...]
Ground-penetrating radar has been used to mark and map historical sites located along a proposed tunnel route in Turkey. As part of the ?stanbul Strait Highway Transit Project, Turkey’s ATA? Company has prepared a special plan to ensure the preservation of historical artifacts on the European side from the Cankurtaran shoreline to Haydarpa?a. So as [...]
An ancient megalitich burial chamber in the Netherlands has been damaged by a fire, possibily started by teenagers having a party. The ancient burial chamber or hunebed on the Groningerweg in Diever in Drenthe has been damaged by fire, with the heat causing one of the massive stones to crack and shatter, local police said [...]
By ony Moore - Brisbane Times
The discovery of a 19th-century shipwreck in north Queensland has highlighted the ever-present threat of tropical cyclones in the region.The remnants of a 30-metre longboat have been unearthed at a beach on Hinchinbrook Island after Cyclone Yasi battered the state in February.It is believed the wrecked vessel has been buried deep below the sand for more than 130 years.
Ironically, it was another cyclone which likely led to the wreckage being there in...
By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk - Mlive
Remember the Titanic? How about “Titanic: the Artifact Exhibition”?In March, Grand Rapids Public Museum, announced it would be first in the state to host the exhibition of 300 artifacts from the infamous ship, opening in November 2012.But The Henry Ford announced today – the 99th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic – that it would open the exhibition in March 2012 at the institution formerly known as Greenfield Village and The Henry...
From t Augustine Underground
Buried in the ocean sands off St. Augustine is a lost shipwreck, one of the last great maritime mysteries from America’ Civil War. A new DVD documentary,“Search for the Jefferson Davis: Trader, Slaver, Raider,” is the fascinating story of the underwater archaeological pursuit of one of the Civil War’ greatest Confederate privateers, the brig Jefferson Davis.One hundred fifty years ago, America was embroiled in a terrible Civil War....