Archaeologists carrying out an excavation at Stonehenge say they have broken through to a layer that may finally explain why the site was built. The team has reached sockets that once held bluestones – smaller stones, most now missing or uprooted, which formed the site's original structure. The researchers now need to extract organic material from these holes to date when the bluestones first arrived.
A necklace found near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru is the oldest known gold object made in the Americas, archaeologists say. Radiocarbon dating puts its origin at about 4,000 years ago, when hunter-gatherers occupied the area. The researchers say it appears to have been fashioned from gold nuggets.
Evidence of the brutal lives endured by some ancient Egyptians to build the monuments of the Pharaohs has been uncovered by archaeologists. Skeletal remains from a lost city in the middle of Egypt suggest many ordinary people died in their teenage years and lived a punishing lifestyle. Many suffered from spinal injuries, poor nutrition and stunted growth.
Britain's own underwater "Atlantis" could be revealed for the first time with hi-tech underwater cameras. Marine archaeologist Stuart Bacon and Professor David Sear, of the University of Southampton, will explore the lost city of Dunwich, off the Suffolk coast. Dunwich gradually disappeared into the sea because of coastal erosion.
Italian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a female wolf suckled the city's twin founders. The cave believed to be the Lupercal was found near the ruins of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine hill.
Chemical and archaeological evidence has pushed back the earliest known use of cacao, the key ingredient of chocolate, by 500 years.
The chemical compound, theobromine, which only occurs in the cacao plant, has been found on pottery vessels dating back to as early as 1000 BC. Experts say the vessels were used to serve a fermented cacao drink that was made from the sweet pulp of the plant.
The face of one of Egypt's most mysterious ancient rulers, the boy king Tutankhamun, has been put on public view for the first time on Sunday. Archaeologists took the mummy from its stone sarcophagus and placed it in a climate-controlled case inside his tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings. The event comes exactly 85 years after the site was discovered by the British explorer Howard Carter.
The first Roman tombstone found in Scotland for 170 years has been unearthed at Carberry, near Inveresk. The red sandstone artefact was for a man called Crescens, a bodyguard for the governor who ran the province of Britain for the Roman Emperor. The National Museum of Scotland said the stone provided the strongest evidence yet that Inveresk was a pivotal Roman site in northern Britain.
Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have found an underground drainage channel that was used by Jews to escape from the Romans in 70 AD. The channel was buried under the rubble of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by Roman conquerors in the Siege of Jerusalem. Scores of people are thought to have sheltered and lived in the tunnel until they were able to flee the city.
Parts of a huge, exquisitely carved statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian have been found at an archaeological site in south-central Turkey. The original statue would have stood 4m-5m in height, experts estimate. His achievements include the massive wall built across the width of northern Britain which bears his name.
A mysterious underground chamber has been found inside the Chinese imperial tomb guarded by the famous Terracotta Army, Chinese archaeologists say. Historical records describing the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, do not mention the room which is 30 metres (98 feet) deep. The unopened chamber was found at the site near the old imperial capital of Xian using remote sensing technology.
Egyptologists say they have identified the 3,000-year-old mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt's most famous female ruler. Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass is to make the official announcement at a news conference in Cairo. It is being billed as the biggest archaeological find in Egypt since the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb.
Archaeologists have revived the debate over whether a spectacular Bronze Age disc from Germany is one of the earliest known calendars. The Nebra disc is emblazoned with symbols of the Sun, Moon and stars and said by some to be 3,600 years old. Writing in the journal Antiquity, a team casts doubt on the idea the disc was used by ancient astronomers as a precision tool for observing the sky.
A team of archaeologists has discovered a huge ancient gold processing centre and a graveyard along the River Nile in northern Sudan. They were part of the 4,000-year-old Kush, or Nubian, kingdom. The scholars say the finds show the empire was much bigger than previously thought and rivalled ancient Egypt.
Ancient Rome has been brought back to life through a unique digital reconstruction project, said to be the world's biggest computer simulation. An international team of architects, archaeologists and experts spent 10 years working on a real-time 3D model of the city called Rome Reborn. Some 7,000 buildings were scanned and reproduced using a model of the city kept at a Rome museum.
Massive blood loss from a ruptured artery killed the 5,300-year-old Alpine "Iceman" known as Oetzi, tests confirm. A Swiss-Italian team says the arrow that struck him in the left shoulder slit the artery under his collar bone. Oetzi probably died as the result of a fight: he may either have fled his attacker – who then shot him in the back – or been ambushed. The remains of the Neolithic man were discovered in 1991 emerging from a melting glacier.
Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock carvings say they have evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of years older than previously thought. State media say researchers identified more than 2,000 pictorial symbols dating back 8,000 years, on cliff faces in the north-west of the country. They say many of these symbols bear a strong resemblance to later forms of ancient Chinese characters.
Engineers are to reopen a tunnel that goes deep inside the ancient monument of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire. The tunnel, dug in 1968, was the last of many made over the centuries by archaeologists exploring the site. Engineers are planning to stabilise the 5,000-year-old structure, which is believed to be the world's largest man-made prehistoric mound.
King Herod's grave uncovered in hilltop fortress
(May 8, 2007)
Archaeologists have unearthed the grave of King Herod the Great, the ruler of Jerusalem who attempted to kill Jesus soon after his birth, it was announced today. Professor Ehud Netzer, of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that he had finally located the king's last resting place in Herodium, Herod's fortified palace on a hilltop outside Jerusalem, after a 35-year search.
Paintings of Buddha dating back at least to the 12th century have been discovered in a cave in a remote area of Nepal's north-central region. Researchers made the find after being tipped off by a local sheep herder. They discovered a mural with 55 panels showing the story of Buddha's life. The mural was uncovered in March, with the team using ice axes to break through a snow path to reach the cave.
Scientists believe they have for the first time identified an ancient graveyard for gladiators. Analysis of their bones and injuries has given new insight into how they lived, fought and died. The remains were found at Ephesus in Turkey, a major city of the Roman world, BBC Timewatch reports.
