You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2017.
French President François Hollande officially launches the Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas on the 20 March 2017 at the Louvre in Paris
Image credit Élysée
A new global fund for endangered heritage sites has been launched by France and the United Arab Emirates. Writing in The Art Newspaper, Vincent Noce, reports that –
A new global fund to protect cultural heritage in war zones, spearheaded by France and the United Arab Emirates, has so far raised $75m of a planned $100m. The fund was officially launched [yesterday], 20 March, at the Louvre in Paris by the French President François Hollande and the vice premier minister of the Emirates, Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
More here.
The 4,000 year-old decorated dolmen discovered in Israel
Image credit Gonen Sharon, Tel Hai College
Ginger Perales, writing in the New Historian, reports on the discovery of a decorated dolmen in the Galilee area of Israel –
Archaeologists working in upper Galilee, near Kibbutz Shamir, have unearthed an unusual dolmen believed to be over 4,000-years-old. A type of megalithic tomb with a single chamber, a dolmen is typically comprised of at least two large vertical stones that support a flat capstone which lies horizontally on top of them (like a table).
Discovered in a large field of over 400 dolmens dating back to the Intermediate Bronze Age, several factors cause this structure to stand out, including its large size, the structure that surrounds it, and most intriguingly, the artistic decorations that are etched into its ceiling.
More here.
A bird-shaped gold pin from the Galloway Viking Hoard
The heraldscotland reports that –
A campaign has been launched to ensure a 1,000-year-old Viking hoard found buried in a Dumfries and Galloway field stays in the local area. The objects were found inside a pot unearthed in 2014 and include rare items such as a gold bird-shaped pin, an enamelled Christian cross and silk from modern-day Istanbul as well as silver and crystal. The items date from the ninth and 10th centuries and are part of a wider hoard of about 100 pieces, which experts say is the most important Viking discovery in Scotland for more than a century.
The Hoard was discovered at an undisclosed location in the region by a metal detectorist. More here.
Side view of the south-eastern chamber looking south-west
The University of Bristol News reports on the complex prehistoric patterns discovered around the site of ancient Welsh burial chamber –
A team of archaeologists, led by a researcher from the University of Bristol, has uncovered the remains of a possible Stonehenge-type prehistoric earthwork monument in a field in Pembrokeshire.
Members of the Welsh Rock art Organisation have been investigating the area around the Neolithic burial chamber known as Trellyffaint – one of a handful of sites in western Britain that has examples of prehistoric rock art.
The site of Trellyffaint dates back at least 6,000 years and has been designated a Scheduled Monument. It is in the care of Welsh heritage agency Cadw. The site comprises two stone chambers – one of which is relatively intact. Each chamber is set within the remains of an earthen cairn or mound which, due to ploughing regimes over the centuries, have been slowly uncovered.
More here.
As it’s Women’s International Day today here are some outstanding examples of women archaeologists.
Maria Reiche (1903-1998)
Maria Reiche was a German mathematician, which came in handy when she began researching Peru’s Nazca Lines in 1940. After demonstrating their sophisticated mathematical accuracy, she published the theory that they related to astronomy. And she didn’t just bring them to Western scholarly attention – Maria helped protect them by getting them preserved and communicating their significance to people all around the world.
The most complete range of archaeological objects unearthed by Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, is now on display alongside the story of this great feat of engineering in a free major exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. The exhibition will run until 3 September 2017.
More here.
Trevethy Quoit, Cornwall, by Charles Knight (circa 1845)
At the beginning of November the [Cornwall Heritage] Trust were informed that the field in which Trethevy Quoit is located was for sale. While the quoit itself was gifted to the Government in the 1930s, the field was in separate ownership and a potential buyer was keen to use it for grazing horses. The Trust was most concerned about this as some years ago there had been many problems with the public accessing the quoit because of grazing horses.
In consultation with the Government Agencies, Historic England and English Heritage, it was decided that Cornwall Heritage Trust should bid to acquire the field thus protecting this magnificent monument. The Trust are indebted to David Attwell, the Trustee that manages the East Cornwall sites, who successfully negotiated the purchase as well as a grant from Historic England to help pay for the land.
More here. And for more of our features on Trevethy Quoit type Trevethy Quoit in the Search Box above.
A 12th century toy boat with a hole in the middle where a mast could have been stepped
Image credit Åge Hojem, NTNU University Museum
A thousand years ago, for reasons we will never know, the residents of a tiny farmstead on the coast of central Norway filled an old well with dirt. Maybe the water dried up, or maybe it became foul. But when archaeologists found the old well and dug it up in the summer of 2016, they discovered an unexpected surprise: a carefully carved toy, a wooden boat with a raised prow like a proud Viking ship, and a hole in the middle where a mast could have been stepped.
More here.
