Viggen

A 7,400-year-old pottery jar stamped with the design of two flying phoenixes has been excavated recently in central China's Hunan Province, helping archaeologists unveil the secret of the "birth" of the sacred bird. The two phoenixes have the typical characteristics of the legendary phoenix, which has a crest on its head, a long beak, a long neck and a long beautiful feathered tail. The phoenix and the dragon are the most worshipped legendary creatures in China since ancient times. full article at People`s Daily

Students in Professor Michael Kolb's archeology course this summer face a single assignment - digging through a hilltop for a lost city. In May, the Northern Illinois University professor will lead students to western Sicily to search of artifacts of indigenous people. For the monthlong trip, the students get six credit hours. They also get experience they couldn't find in a textbook. "You get to learn what it's like to be a real archeologist, working with your interpretive skills," said master's student Michael Kamin of Hanover Park, who went to Sicily twice as an undergraduate. full article at Yahoo News

The legend of Troy has an enduring grip on the imagination. Aidan Laverty talks to the scientists who say they have proved that a siege really took place It's one of the greatest stories ever; the tale of a war fought over the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Now as Hollywood breathes fresh life into the myth, archaeologists have uncovered new evidence from the site of Troy that brings us closer than ever to the truth behind this ancient legend. The story of the Trojan War is said to have been composed by the Greek poet Homer in the 8th century BC. But scholars believe the story is set hundreds of years earlier, towards the end of the Bronze Age, sometime between 1200 and 1300 BC. full article at the telegraph

European heritage experts have met in Scotland to mark the start of a bid to win World Heritage Site status for the Antonine Wall, the most northerly boundary of the Roman Empire. Culture Minister Frank McAveety, who hosted a reception for the delegates, wished the team luck in what will be the first ever bid to involve more than one country. He said:

Human-like species living in Africa up to 1.5 million years ago may have known how to control fire, scientists say. US and South African experts analysed burnt bones from Swartkrans, just north of Johannesburg, using the technique of electron spin resonance. It showed the bones had been heated to high temperatures usually only achieved in hearths, possibly making it the first evidence of fire use by humans. full article at the BBC

ARCHAEOLOGISTS who have unearthed six former Roman villa estates in the west of the county will unveil their latest findings at the end of the month. More than 100 volunteers, consisting of historians, archaeologists and villagers have conducted a detailed analysis of the landscape around Bugbrooke, Flore, Harpole, Nether Heyford and Weedon in the last three years. Although nine Roman settlements were found in total, they have successfully identified six Roman villas dating from the third and fourth centuries. fount at Northampton Today

A birdwatcher who unearthed the 4000-year-old cremated remains of a young man has given archaeologists fresh insight into the close, superstitious bonds between humans and animals in prehistoric society. Experts have conducted a detailed analysis of the discovery of a Bronze Age burial urn which contained the remains of a male aged between 25 and 40, found within a boulder shelter at Glennan, Kilmartin, in Argyll. full article at The Herald

Egypt on Sunday unveiled the restored sarcophagus of Ramses VI, pieced together from 250 fragments and now on permanent display where it was first interred in the massive tomb of the ancient pharaoh, who ruled about 3,100 years ago. Chip Vincent, director of the Egypt project at the American Research Center in Cairo, said 10 American, Canadian and Egyptian experts worked for two years on the reconstruction of the sarcophagus, carved in the shape of a mummy from a single block of green conglomerate. full article at CTV

Dr. Andrea Berlin and Dr. Jodi Magness have both seen The Passion of the Christ, and have authored a commentary on the film from an archaeological perspective. Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ is hardly a historical documentary. As the director himself asserts, and reviewers, religious leaders, and audience members agree, the movie is designed to bring to vivid life the nature and magnitude of Jesus

A glint of gold on the blade of his spade started an adventure which could net a Bristol man real treasure. When Ken Allen from Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, dug up 20,000 Roman coins it marked the start of a long and painstaking task to determine both ownership and conserve them. Bristol City Museums and Art Gallery described the 4th Century coins as "one of the most exciting finds to come out the area for 30 years". Experts are also excited about the ceramic pot they were found in. Once a few pieces had been examined it became clear that it too had significant historic interest. full article at the BBC

Chemical detectives have traced deposits of fat in Scottish peat bogs to foodstuffs buried by people hundreds of years ago. The 'bog butter' is the remains of both dairy products and meat encased in the peat, say Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol and colleagues. Those who live in the countryside of Ireland and Scotland and dig up chunks of peat for fuel have long been familiar with bog butter. While gathering the compressed plant matter, which can be burned in fires, diggers occasionally slice into a white substance with the appearance and texture of paraffin wax. full article at Nature

Christians were persecuted and running for their lives until Constantine became emperor of Rome in 313 A.D. All Roman emperors before Constantine considered Christianity a Jewish sect and made life miserable for Jews and Christians, for they refused to acknowledge the emperor as "half god, half man." They refused at tax time to swear to a magistrate "Caesar is lord," so Nero in 64 A.D., Domitian from 81-95 A.D. and Decius and other emperors later carried out systematic persecution and confiscation of property of Jews and Christians. Few if any church buildings existed before Constantine, so Christians met in homes or theaters or catacombs. Only after Constantine could Christians build churches and assemble freely. Interesting article about Constantine the Great and his influence on our life at the Carolina Morning News

i saw a while back a documentary from the BBC on the Neanderthals and there (if i remember correctly) it said, that because of the end of the ice age the neanderthal slowly extinct, he was perfectly adapted for cold climate and relied heavily on the mammoth for food, once they died out, the neanderthal followed quickly.

Genetic evidence from Neanderthal and early human bones indicates that if there was any intermixing of the two species, it was so little that it left no genetic trace. The discovery was published in the current edition of PloS Biology. This work by a team of European scientists led by Svante Paabo finally brings some solid evidence into the matter, he said. For years anthropologists have been debating whether humans, when they wandered north into Europe from Africa more then 30,000 years ago, might have interbred with Neanderthals who lived there, said Klein. The evidence, until now, was mostly restricted to the shape of fossil bones. via Discovery

New scientific research adds to growing evidence that the Anglo-Saxons did not replace the native population in England as history books suggest. The data indicates at least some areas of eastern England absorbed very few Anglo-Saxon invaders, contrary to the view in many historical accounts. Chemical analysis of human teeth from a Medieval cemetery in Yorkshire found few individuals of continental origin. full article at the BBC

Remnants of space dust that constantly shower the world are helping unlock the secrets of a 2,000-year-old Mexican pyramid where the rulers of a mysterious civilization may lie buried. Deep under the huge Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City, physicists are installing a device to detect muons, subatomic particles that are left over when cosmic rays hit Earth. full article at MSNBC

A Renaissance masterpiece has unveiled startling evidence of what may have been one of the first forms of a multimedia representation, it emerged recently at an art exhibit in Florence. Running until July 11 at Palazzo Strozzi in central Florence, Italy, the show "Botticelli and Filippino: grace and passion in 15th century Florentine painting" displays a little-seen work by Filippino Lippi: "Madonna and Child with Singing Angels." via Discovery

A grave believed to belong to courtiers or servants of King Aha, the first king of ancient Egypt's first dynasty, was uncovered by an American excavation mission in Abydos in Upper Egypt, a culture ministry statement said on Sunday. The enclosure found in Abydos contains "a very well-preserved chapel surrounded with six subsidiary graves belonging to courtiers servants intended to serve the king in the afterlife". full article at IOL

Yup sounds good!

Hello dnewhous and welcome at UNRV! Thanks for your question and also thanks to Primuspilus for answering it. I believe that already with Alexander the Great, greek became the lingua franca of the east and if i am not mistaken were the ruling class at the time in Egypt (so not that far away from Jud

Old West outlaw

Julius Caesar's bloody assassination on March 15, 44 B.C., forever marked March 15, or the Ides of March, as a day of infamy. It has fascinated scholars and writers ever since. For ancient Romans living before that event, however, an ides was merely one of several common calendar terms used to mark monthly lunar events. The ides simply marked the appearance of the full moon. But the Ides of March assumed a whole new identity after the events of 44 B.C. The phrase came to represent a specific day of abrupt change that set off a ripple of repercussions throughout Roman society and beyond. full article at National Geographic

More information in this article on the relocation of Paris http://www.tuftsdaily.com/articleDisplay.jsp?a_id=3524

Mention Saint Patrick and most people think of green beer, four-leaf clovers and the luck of the Irish. Others consider the tale of an Irish priest who rid Ireland of snakes. Truth be told, no truth lies in either conception. While history is unclear about the birthplace of Patricius Magonus Sucatus, it is emphatic that he was born not in Ireland, but somewhere in Britain near the western coast of the Roman Empire sometime around 385 AD - and there were no snakes in Ireland. full article at McKinney Courier

I did choose it, it was given to me cheers viggen