===============================================================
explorator 18.35 December 27, 2015 ===============================================================
If you're having problems getting 'the whole issue', read Explorator online at:

https://exploratornews.wordpress.com/


Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis, John McMahon,
Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo, Bob Heuman, David Critchley, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Frank MacKay, Rick Heli, Simon Kidner, Paul James
Cowie, Allan Brockway, Richard Campbell, Richard C. Griffiths, and Ross W. Sargent for
headses upses this week (as always hoping I have left no one out).

Belated holiday wishes to folks celebrating and/or who have celebrated a pile of
seasonal holidays over the past couple of weeks ...

================================================================
EARLY HOMINIDS
================================================================
Analysis of a Red Deer Cave thighbone suggests 'prehistoric' humans survived in Eurasia until relatively recently:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-bone-red-deer-cave-people.html http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uons-dc121415.php http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/science/thigh-bone-suggests-ancient-and-modern-hu
mans-overlapped.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/red-deer-cave-people-1.3374837?cmp=rss http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/1217/Mysterious-14-000-year-old-leg-bone-may-
belong-to-archaic-human-species http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3364509/Did-primitive-humans-survive-14-
000-year-ago-Thigh-bone-mysterious-Red-Deer-Man-species-suggests-early-relatives-liv
ed-far-later-believed.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=83743 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12057181/Ancient-human-ancest
or-may-have-persisted-through-Ice-Age.html https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28687-new-species-of-human-may-have-shared-o
ur-caves-and-beds/

Creating a 'virtual fossil' to 'find' the last common ancestor of homo sapiens and
neanderthals:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-virtual-fossil-reveals-common-ancestor.html http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uoc-fr121415.php http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-reveal-what-our-long-lost-virtual-a
ncestor-looked-like-before-evolutionary-split-700000-a6777736.html http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2015/virtual-fossil-reveals-last-co
mmon-ancestor-of-humans-and-neanderthals http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3364891/Did-Neanderthals-humans-split-e
arlier-thought-Virtual-fossil-sheds-new-light-common-ancestor.html

On the slenderness of homo sapiens faces compared to neanderthals:

http://www.livescience.com/53102-neanderthals-protruding-jaws-bone-deposits.html

They're still talking about Oetzi's tattoos:

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/oetzi-the-iceman-has-worlds-oldest-tattoo
s-141222.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/oldest-tattoo-ever-found-marks-on-iceman-ot
zi-proved-to-be-first-known-body-art-a6777476.html

================================================================
AFRICA
================================================================
Ongoing concerns for artifacts in Libya:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3361241/UNESCO-museums-warn-extremist-t
hreat-Libya-artifacts.html

... and ISIL has possession of Sabratha:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/12045883/Islamic-State-seizes
-Unesco-heritage-site-in-Libya.html

We'll probably be reading more about this golden rhino from South Africa:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=83766


================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT ================================================================
New Kingdom artifacts from Gebel Al-Silsila:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/177362/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Ancient-Eg
yptian-artefacts-discovered-in-Aswans-Ge.aspx

The tomb of Tut's wet nurse opened to the public:

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/12/20/egypt-opens-tomb-of-king-tuts-enigmatic-wet-
nurse-to-public/ http://www.dw.com/en/egypt-opens-tomb-of-king-tuts-enigmatic-wet-nurse-to-public/
a-18931056 http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/egypt-opens-king-tuts-wet-nurse-tomb-public-358
73946 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3368042/Tomb-Tutankhamun-s-wet-nurse-opened
-time-discovered-1996-public-allowed-close-look-paintings-inscriptions.html?ITO=1490&n
s_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490


... with some outlets focussing on the suggestion she may have been his sister:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-king-tut-nurse-sister-expert.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/tutankhamuns-half-sister-merita
ten-might-have-also-been-his-wet-nurse-archaeologists-say-a6781231.html http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/21/egyptian-pharaoh-tutankhamuns-wet-nur
se-might-have-been-his-sister http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/king-tuts-wet-nurse-may-have-been-his-si
ster-151221.htm http://news.yahoo.com/king-tuts-wet-nurse-may-sister-expert-194855829.html;_ylt=A0LEV
7wCDHdWrUkAmK1jmolQ http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/king-tut-wet-nurse-meritaten-1.3374425 http://www.timesofisrael.com/king-tuts-wet-nurse-was-likely-his-sister-expert-reveals/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3368098/King-Tuts-wet-nurse-sister-expert.ht
ml http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-22/pharaoh-tutankhamus-wet-nurse-maybe-his-older
-sister/7046878

They're still talking about his beard repairs too:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-egypt-king-tut-mask-botched.html http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/12/17/in-pictures-german-henkel-to-take-part-in-rest
oration-of-tutankhamun-mask/ http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/16/tutankhamun-gold-mask-egypt-beard-rep
air http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/world/middleeast/repaired-king-tut-mask-back-on-dis
play-in-egypt.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151217-king-tut-mask-beard-repaired-egypt-
archaeology/ http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/restored-king-tut-mask-back-on-display-1
51217.htm http://artdaily.com/news/83702/Legendary-Egyptian-boy-king-Tutankhamun-s-gold-mask-r
estored-after-botched-repair

The 'hidden Nefertiti' thing keeps coming up:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151218-nefertiti-tomb-mystery-egypt/

... but now we're getting some more skepticism:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/12067553/ Egyptian-expert-disputes-new-theory-that-Queen-Nefertiti-is-in-Tutankhamuns-tomb.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/75471401/Nefertiti-tomb-theory-is-baseless-says-Egyp
tologist

... and they're not going to allow damage to Tut's tomb:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/leading-archaeologist-says-nefert
iti-is-not-in-tutankhamuns-tomb-a6787361.html

Interesting feature on Egyptian astronomy records:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-ancient-egyptians-algol-eclipses.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151217151651.htm

Feature on Abu Simbel:

http://egypttoday.com/blog/2015/12/15/the-golden-age-of-travel-on-the-nile/

Pondering the end of the Old Kingdom:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151224-egypt-climate-change-old-kingdom-a
rchaeology/

More on the search for secret chambers in pyramids:

http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-egypt/pyramid-secret-chambers-sought-using-
cosmic-rays-151217.htm

Excavations at Kursi reveal the existence of a Jewish village, some 1800 years b.p.:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/205134 http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/12/17/marble-slab-found-near-sea-of-galilee-proves-anc
ient-jewish-settlement-in-area/ http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israeli-archaeologists-find-Hebrew-inscriptions-on-anci
ent-slab-of-marble-near-Lake-Kinneret-437520 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4740314,00.html http://www.newswise.com/articles/university-of-haifa-excavations-uncover-unique-hebre
w-inscription-showing-existence-of-a-jewish-village-at-kursi http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151218095443.htm

A Byzantine sheep/ram sculpture from Caesarea:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Christmas-Eve-in-Caesarea-Archaeologists-find-lamb-r
elic-linked-to-ancient-Christianity-438351


The use of archaeology for modern political purposes raised its ugly head again with a
piece in an Israel newspaper about evidence that Byzantine era Muslims weren't as
'enlightened' as might have been though:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.691515

Probably in response to an Egyptian paper having a scholar suggest the Temple was
never in Jerusalem (reported via an Israel newspaper):

http://www.timesofisrael.com/egyptian-paper-claims-jewish-temple-was-never-in-jerusale
m/

... and then a Jerusalem newspaper had a Muslim scholar saying Muslim claims to Temple Mount were baseless:

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Temple-Mount-in-Jewish-hands-The-Egyptian-in
tellectual-who-handed-over-al-Aksa-438173

... and something from the US House of Representatives was brought up too:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/US-congresswoman-Jerusalems-archaeological-discov
eries-prove-historic-Jewish-ties-438085

Feature on the archaeology of Jesus' time (mostly about sites in Galilee):

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unearthing-world-jesus-180957515/?no-ist

... and that thing about what Jesus really looked like (from five or six years ago!)
returned for some reason:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-jesus-science-mystery.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3359548/Is-real-face-JESUS-Experts-use-f
orensics-reveal-Christ-looked-like.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=149
0 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/12/25/what-did-jesus-look-like/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35120965

The Magdala Stone (found in 2009) was also back in the news:

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/12/17/459964768/the-magdala-stone-may-be-a-por
tal-to-early-religion http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/13/is-this-stone-the-clue-to-why-jesus-was
-killed.html

A roundup of major archaeological find in Israel in 2015:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.693631

Feature on Moshe Dayan's 'collecting' efforts:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.692507

Feature on the DSS:

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/dead-sea-scrolls/dead-sea-scro
lls-history-looking-back-on-the-last-75-years/

Interesting feature on 'Nineveh in Bombay' and the competition for Mesopotamian artifacts back in the 1800s:

http://scroll.in/article/768431/nineveh-in-bombay-circa-1840s-when-the-splendours-of-anc
ient-assyria-enraptured-the-city

Ongoing concerns for sites in Yemen:

http://theconversation.com/bricks-and-mortar-fire-yemens-cultural-heritage-is-in-the-cross
hairs-48484

More on the oldest Quran:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/quran-muhammad-oldest-islamic-text-egypt-mosque-
biggest-discovery-muslim-world-153293/#

More on ISIL funding their activities with antiquities:

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/56122/isis-utilizing-antiquities-black-market-fund-jiha
dist-activities-middle-east/

... and the suggestion they're smuggling them via Lebanon:

http://www.albawaba.com/news/report-suggests-daesh-smuggling-antiquities-through-leb
anon-784862

A roundup of sites lost to ISIL in the past year:

http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/year-destruction-nine-archaeological-sites-world-l
ost-daesh-2015-784300

On their 'doctrine' and some medieval suggestions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/opinion/a-medieval-antidote-to-isis.html?_r=0


================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS) ================================================================
Feature on a dig going on at Naukratis:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/dec/26/ancient-egypts-version-of-hong-kong-is-
unearthed-by-british-team

... and the dig at Lechaion:

http://humanities.ku.dk/news/2015/greek-danish-team-of-archaeologists-investigates-one
-of-the-most-important-harbour-towns-of-the-ancient-mediterranean/

... and one on the Polish archaeologists digging in Romania:

http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/233996,Polish-archaeologists-studying-Roman-sites-in
-Romania

A Roman hoard from Cornwall:

http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Roman-hoard-179-coins-unearthed-farmer-s-field-St/ story-28413536-detail/story.html

Interesting decapitated Roman burial at Worthy Down:

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art543378-worthy-down-ar
my-training-roman-skeletons

Roman remains from Leicester:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-35088029 http://www.livescience.com/53060-medieval-backyards-unearthed-photos.html

Possible Roman remains in Merthyr Tydfil:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/discovery-cropmarks-buried-walls-could-1
0601905

Roman era baths and mosaics from Anatolia:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-bath-and-mosaics-found-in-central-anatolia-.as
px?pageID=238&nid=93063

Studying Scythian nomad burials in the Altai:

http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,407651,archaeologists-are-studying-the-cra
dle-of-the-scythians.html http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2015/archaeologists-study-scythia
n-nomad-graves

Five houses and a dry cleaning establishment reopened in Pompeii:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/dec/24/pompeii-homes-mosaics-and-frescoes-
among-latest-sights-for-tourists http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12068416/A-2000-year-old-ancie
nt-Roman-laundromat-open-to-public-for-first-time.html http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2015/12/24/six-pompeii-do
mus-reopen-including-ancient-laundry_d781806b-f4ae-443e-a703-69e7ab8afe99.html http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pompeii-gets-blast-from-past-with-six-newly-restored-buil
dings/ http://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2015/12/24/renzi-visits-restored-pompeii-d
omus_66121210-894a-4c44-b1f0-d0de56e4a20d.html http://www.nbcnews.com/slideshow/ancient-houses-restored-unveiled-pompeii-n485516?
cid=sm_fb

... and the premier had things to say about sites in general:

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2015/12/24/no-more-unfinished-public-works-ren
zi_745791d4-79bb-4802-ba0b-b41ece149178.html

cf:

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/dec/21/rome-wont-be-rebuilt-in-a-day-the-challen
ge-of-city-centre-restoration

Concerns for a Roman road in Jordan:

http://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/ammar-khammash/ancient-rome-reawakened

Plans to dig in Amos:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/excavations-to-start-in-city-of-amos-for-the-first-time.as
px?pageID=238&nID=92562&NewsCatID=375

Latest suggestions about the Phaistos disk:

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/12/16/archaeologist-claims-to-have-unlocked-phais
tos-disk-mystery/

Claims of a find of a 'late antiquity' fortress in Macedonia (FYROM):

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/25/c_134950896.htm

... while FYROM is considering a name change:

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/12/17/fyrom-willing-to-change-name-to-end-dispute-
with-greece/

Feature on what technology can tell us about Herculaneum:

http://blog.oup.com/2015/12/herculaneum-papyrus-scrolls/

Pondering the death of Socrates:

http://blog.oup.com/2015/12/birth-comedy-socrates-aristophanes/

On Classics in New Zealand:

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/classics-hit-masseys-auckland-campus-2016/5/239856

Feature on Hermaphroditus:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-antiquity-hermaphroditusa-gender-bender.html

On the appeal of Greek heroes:

http://taskandpurpose.com/why-ancient-greek-heroes-are-still-so-appealing-in-todays-cult
ure/

David Hillman is involved in a somewhat strange dispute:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/18/saint-marys-university-minnesota-adju
nct-says-he-was-let-go-due-props-play

Restoring mosaics in Stratonikeia:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/byzantine-mosaics-set-to-return-to-former-glory.aspx?
pageID=238&nid=92498

Haven't had a 'Roman curse messing things up' story for a while:

http://www.kingstonguardian.co.uk/news/14154590.Spooked_out__Are_Quaker_ghosts_o
r_ancient_Roman_curses_delaying_Primark_s_expansion_plans_/

In a similar nutty vein, claims of a Roman sword (that isn't) from Oak Island is getting
increasing coverage:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3364818/Did-ROMANS-discover-America-S
word-Oak-Island-suggests-ancient-mariners-set-foot-New-World-Columbus-according-radi
cal-theory.html

Mary Beard was asked about cuts to Norfolk Archaeology:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/norfolk_archaeology_cuts_criticised_by_tv_presen
ter_mary_beard_1_4357233

... and a dispute over a Cecil Rhodes statue:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/22/oxford-students-campaign-cecil-rhod
es-statue-oriel-college http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3369612/Mary-Beard-raps-zealots-Oxford-Rhode
s-row.html

cf:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/25/world/europe/cecil-rhodes-statue-oxford.html

What Rick LaFleur is up to:

http://onlineathens.com/uga/2015-12-15/retired-uga-professor-translates-classic-children
s-book-classical-language

Honours for Sophie Mills:

https://mountainx.com/blogwire/unc-ashevilles-teacher-named-winner-of-collegiate-teachi
ng-award/

More on the Colossus of Rhodes:

http://www.theweek.co.uk/68137/colossus-of-rhodes-could-tower-over-island-again

More on that 'massacre site' in the Netherlands associated with Julius Caesar:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-archaeologists-historic-fought-caesar-dutch.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151216151621.htm http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/vua-vad121615.php https://www.apollo-magazine.com/julius-caesar-goes-dutch/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/11/julius-caesar-battlefield-unearthed-southe
rn-netherlands-dutch-archaeologists http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2015/location-of-caesars-genocida
l-slaughter-announced

More on that Roman shipwreck full of garum:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/italian-archaeologists-discover
ed-a-2000yearold-roman-shipwreck-containing-a-heavy-load-of-ketchup/news-story/ 23f1dbd5193b48af2f2f613d43de64e2

More on Knidos wanting its artifacts back:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/knidos-wants-to-regain-its-artifacts-.aspx?pageID=238
&nid=92499

More on Greece altering its strategy regarding the Parthenon Marbles:

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/Does-Greece-want-its-marbles-back

... related:

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/Dispute-over-the-marbles-now-stretching-to-Adelaide

Review of *Dynasty* and *SPQR*:

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/reviews-mary-beard-s-spqr-and-tom-hollan
d-s-dynasty-revisit-roman-history-1.11243507

-----
Latest reviews from BMCR:

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html

Visit our blog:

http://rogueclassicism.com/ ================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland) ================================================================
Interesting 4500 years b.p. child burial from Russia with assorted evil-dispelling
devices:

http://www.livescience.com/53167-rattles-found-in-prehistoric-infant-grave.html

Evidence of Neolithic warfare in some burials from France:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-skeletons-pit-france-evidence-neolithic.html http://www.stardailystandard.com/science/skeletons-present-in-pit-in-france-supply-proof-
of-neolithic-warfare/89520/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3359334/Neolithic-pit-reveals-bloody-tale-
violent-attack-Severed-arms-remains-seven-people-child-s-skull-6-000-year-old-war-troph
y-grave.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Aftermath of the 'Stonehenge was a reused monument' thing is the suggestion the stones were moved by glaciation, not people:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/stonehenges-bluestones-were-moved-wa
les-10591475 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/glaciers-moved-stonehenge-fro
m-wales-to-wilshire-not-ancient-people-welsh-researchers-claim-a6774786.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/12050476/Stonehenge-
was-moved-by-glaciers-not-our-prehistoric-ancestors.html

... in case you missed the hand-me-down coverage:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stonehenge-hand-me-down-monument-1809 57477/ http://artdaily.com/news/83731/Stonehenge--bluestone--quarries-confirmed-by-team-of-ar
chaeologists-140-miles-away-in-Wales- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3359160/Stonehenge-s-bluestones-NOT-W
ales-Archaeologists-war-claim-prehistoric-man-chipped-rocks-site-dragging-140-miles-Wi
ltshire.html

... cf:

http://brian-mountainman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/bluestone-quarry-archaeologists-are.ht
ml

... and the survey for the Stonehenge tunnel turned up more sites:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/21/stonehenge-tunnel-survey-reveals-new
-sites-and-mysteries

Suggestion that Vikings invented haggis:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/12070076/Scotlands-national-
dish-is-an-imposter-and-was-invented-by-Vikings-claims-master-butcher.html

Remains of a Viking settlement at a Norwegian airport site:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-iron-age-norwegians-bling.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/1500-year-old-viking-settlement-discov
ered-underneath-norwegian-airport-a6785786.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3373170/Did-Vikings-love-wear-BLING-Iron
-Age-settlement-reveals-feared-warriors-soft-spot-delicate-glass-amber-beads.html
http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/12/scientists-find-1500-year-old-viking-settlement-b
eneath-new-airport-site/

A Viking hoard from Oxfordshire: http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=41691 http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=83940

Latest 'anti-demon- burials' -- this time with a sickle around their necks -- come from
Poland:

http://www.livescience.com/53147-sickle-wearing-skeletons-reveal-demon-fears.html
http://www.livescience.com/53146-demon-burials-discovered-photos.html http://news.yahoo.com/sickle-wearing-skeletons-reveal-ancient-fear-demons-172108769.
html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3366287/The-vampire-graves-Archaeologi
sts-corpses-buried-sickles-necks-stop-rising-DEMONS.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rs
s&ns_campaign=1490

... and a 'witch burial' from Italy:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3356222/Was-teenage-witch-burnt-alive-Ch
arred-remains-medieval-girl-pile-stones-designed-stop-spirit-rising.html?ITO=1490&ns_
mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

A small hoard of gold from the Thames may have come from a Tudor-era hat:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/12067054/Archaeologist
s-believe-Thames-gold-hoard-may-have-come-from-Tudor-hat.html http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/dec/23/tiny-tudor-treasure-hoard-found-in-thame
s-mud

Finds from various periods in Southgates:

http://news.yahoo.com/backyard-bonanza-medieval-outhouses-roman-roads-unearthed-1
25312808.html http://www.livescience.com/53082-medieval-backyards-unearthed-roman-england.html

Refurbishing of a church in Sweden turns up some interesting 500 years b.p. (or so)
burials:

http://www.thelocal.se/20151222/historic-child-grave-dug-up-in-sweden

A pair of interesting medieval burials found during a dig at Halton Castle (Runcorn):

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art5433620-runcorn-norton-
priory-medieval-skeletons-legs http://www.runcornandwidnesworld.co.uk/news/14152432.Archaeologists_reveal_skeleto
n_found_at_Halton_Castle_had_two_broken_legs/

The Daily Mail goes metal detecting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-3371065/Is-fortune-buried-garden-Metal-d
etector-sales-soaring-treasure-hunting-boom-hits-Britain.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=r
ss&ns_campaign=1490

A 15th century gold ring is declared treasure:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/gold-ring-could-date-back-10618950 http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/400-year-old-treasure-found-10618792

Timely feature on Newgrange:

http://news.discovery.com/human/life/ancient-tomb-magically-heralds-winter-solstice-151
221.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Evidence of Charlemagne in Zurich:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/excavation_600-year-old-charlemagne-insignia-foun
d-near-zurich-church/41853508?ns_mchannel=rss

I think we mentioned this evidence of a Bronze Age settlement in the Orkneys:

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-shifting-sand-dunes-reveal-hidden.html

Lottery funding for Reading Abbey:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-35101140

More on Suleiman:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35101068

-----
Archaeology in Europe Blog:

http://archaeology-in-europe.blogspot.com/

================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC ================================================================
A marble sphinx from a Tang dynasty tomb:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/15/c_134919096.htm http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3362518/Clash-civilisations-Archae
ologists-unearth-1-000-year-old-sphinx-statue-tomb-ancient-Chinese-scholar.html?ITO=1
490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

A bronze casting workshop from Haojing:

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-12/23/content_22786662.htm

A Han Dynasty tomb in Jiangxi was excavated 'just in time' apparently:

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1892415/tomb-raiders-readied-rob-han-d
ynasty-crypt-day-it-was-saved-say

... I think this is the same tomb:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/15/c_134920096.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2015-12/15/c_134920186.htm

A pile of hanging coffins from Hubei (how do people not notice these things?):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3361098/A-real-cliff-hanger-Archaeo
logists-discover-hundreds-mysterious-wooden-tombs-suspended-rock-face-rural-China.ht
ml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

A movement to revive Sanskrit:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=83737

Coins and arrowheads from a Buddhist stupa site in Taxila:

http://www.dawn.com/news/1226642

-----

Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog:

http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:

http://nzarchaeology.blogspot.co.nz/index.html ================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
Archaeologists have found the site of the Luna settlement near Pensacola:

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/12/2015/archaeologists-identify-16th-
century-luna-settlement

Latest from the Las Capas site:

http://tucson.com/news/blogs/scientific-bent/the-early-gastronomes-of-tucson/article_a59
0ea11-2768-53d2-ad77-df54a5ce6516.html

Latest from the Vero Beach site:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/fl-vero-man-site-fau-20151218-story.html http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-vero-man-site-fau-20151218-story.html

Remains of a 'corduroy road' from Fairfax:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/construction-crew-unearths-remains-of-corduroy-r
oad-in-fairfax/2015/12/21/be1e0b9a-a5d2-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-civil-war-cedar-log-highway-20151223-story.html

Interview with Lynn Gamble:

http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/016232/deep-history

More on the wood source for Chaco Canyon dwellings:

http://tucson.com/news/local/new-wood-source-found-for-chaco-canyon/article_ad54fe7b-
e590-5d6f-947e-2cb5c0bb84aa.html

That 'first casino' (Utah) story is making the rounds again:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/12/17/have-researchers-found-america
s-first-casino-162794

Trying to preserve the site of the Battle of Princeton:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/nyregion/as-housing-project-starts-another-battle-flar
es-on-a-revolutionary-war-site-in-princeton.html http://m.ctpost.com/news/education/article/Legal-battle-continues-over-Revolutionary-Wa
r-6695468.php

More on pre-earthquake San Francisco Chinatown:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/traces-san-franciscos-pre-earthquake-china
town-uncovered-180957528/

================================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA ================================================================
Feature/update on Choquequirao:

http://www.peruviantimes.com/18/choquequirao-field-report-2015/25121/

Ceren suggests a somewhat different view of the Maya:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/archaeological-finds-in-el-salvador-tell-a-whole-
different-tale-about-maya-society/

Evidence of captive carnivores at Teotihuacan 1000 years before Montezuma's 'zoo':

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-early-captive-carnivore-ancient-mexican.html

What Chris Begley is up to:

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/12/17/transylvania-university-india
na-jones--archaeologist-chris-begley/76365846/

Evidence of religious conflict in early Mesoamerica:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uocf-sfr122115.php http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3370189/Religion-causing-conflicts-2-000-
years-binding-ancient-societies-belief-systems-torn-apart-Mesoamerica.html?ITO=1490&
ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/religion-has-been-causing-confl
ict-for-over-2000-years-say-scientists-a6782631.html

-----
Mike Ruggeri's Ancient Americas Breaking News:

http://goo.gl/1VdeA

Ancient MesoAmerica News:

http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/ ================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST ================================================================
As might be expected, there was a pile of Christmas-related stuff, including the usual
piece on the Star of Bethlehem:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/coleraine-academic-who-says-hes-proven-
the-star-of-bethlehem-really-did-appear-in-the-sky-as-described-in-the-bible-34296885.ht
ml https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/22/9-things-you-didnt-kno
w-about-the-star-of-bethlehem-2/

... and some 'revisionism' about donkeys and cattle being present by the manger:

http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=164233

... and the 'real' date:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/christmas/75281026/christmas-date-unimportant-to-biblic
al-scholar-murray-harris http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/12/23/ciencia/1450901374_520054.html

... and virgin births:

http://theconversation.com/friday-essay-virgin-mothers-and-miracle-babies-49889

... and the question of whether the Romans actually invented it:

http://www.historytoday.com/matt-salusbury/did-romans-invent-christmas http://www.apalachtimes.com/article/20151223/OPINION/151229761/16225/OPINION

... and other pagan bits:

http://theconversation.com/the-holly-and-the-ivy-how-pagan-practices-found-their-way-int
o-christmas-52343

... and things about mistletoe:

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151215-why-we-kiss-under-mistletoe http://theconversation.com/mistletoe-the-kiss-of-life-for-healthy-forests-52137

... and dinners:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/23/460840803/big-bold-wild-we-re-create-chri
stmas-dinner-17th-century-style

... and the Nutcracker:

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151218-how-tchaikovskys-nutcracker-became-a-christ
mas-classic

... and a Christmas Carol:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120471

... and the Christmas Truce:

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/25/370381693/a-century-ago-when-the-gun
s-fell-silent-on-christmas?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_

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