Shakespeare and Greenwich | The Shakespeare blog

The remains of the Tudor palace at Greenwich

There is something special about the place where important events took place, no matter how long ago. Even where there are no remaining signs on the ground people still visit: perhaps the draw is that these sites make us use our imaginations so strongly.

It’s always surprising to find bits of the London that Shakespeare knew beneath…

Source: Shakespeare and Greenwich | The Shakespeare blog

Remains of five archbishops found near Lambeth Palace | UK news | The Guardian

Builders find 30 lead coffins in crypt of former church next to archbishop of Canterbury’s official residence

Source: Remains of five archbishops found near Lambeth Palace | UK news | The Guardian

N.B. I’m not currently responding to comments or visiting blogs because of ill-health but I much appreciate your support.

Eight thousand year-old figurines discovered in Turkey | The Heritage Trust

Figurines found by Polish archaeologists in Turkey. Image credit Jason Quinlan

Science & Scholarship in Poland have reported on the discovery by Polish archaeologists of two unique eight th…

Source: Eight thousand year-old figurines discovered in Turkey | The Heritage Trust

Musket Balls, Fake Teeth and More Found Beneath Malcolm X’s Childhood Home | Atlas Obscura

Your average city backyard holds an awful lot of history…

Source: Musket Balls, Fake Teeth and More Found Beneath Malcolm X’s Childhood Home | Atlas Obscura

A-level Archaeology Certificate to be scrapped | The Heritage Trust

Sir Tony Robinson (left), Mick Aston and Guy de la Bédoyère on a Time Team shoot in 2007 Image credit Guy de la Bedoyere. Source Wikipedia Commons 

The Guardian reports that the British A-level Archaeology Certificate is to be scrapped –

Sir Tony Robinson, who fronted the hit television show Time Team, has condemned the recent scrapping of archaeology A-level as “a barbaric act”.

 

A petition has been launched to…

Source: A-level Archaeology Certificate to be scrapped | The Heritage Trust

East Asian skeletons found in a Londinium cemetery | The Heritage Trust

An artist’s impression of Londinium, centre of the Roman Empire in Britain, circa 200ce

An artist’s impression of Londinium, centre of the Roman Empire in Britain, circa 200ce   Across the river to the south of Londinium was a small suburb that would later become Southwark. It…

Source: East Asian skeletons found in a Londinium cemetery | The Heritage Trust

The last ruins of Dunwich, Suffolk’s lost medieval town | Flickering Lamps

The tiny village of Dunwich clings to the edge of the Suffolk coast and is in many ways a pretty but unremarkable place, a sleepy settlement a long way from any large towns.  There’s a beach,…

Source: The last ruins of Dunwich, Suffolk’s lost medieval town | Flickering Lamps

7 Archaeological Discoveries that have Rewritten England’s Story

It’s 25 years since a watershed moment in England’s archaeology. Before 1990, precious archaeological remains found during building projects, such as the Roman temple of Mithras were being lost. Public outcry reached a peak with the high-profile protests to save the remains of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre.

The Government issued a new policy on archaeology and planning which allowed for archaeological surveys to be carried out before planning permission is granted. The finds from these digs across England have transformed our understanding of the past. Here are eight of the most unusual:

1. The remains of an extinct species of elephant

A Palaeoloxodon antiquus butchered with flint knives 420,000 years ago by pre-Neanderthals was a very rare find in…

Source: 7 Archaeological Discoveries that have Rewritten England’s Story

The Roman girl buried beneath a London landmark | Flickering Lamps

30 St Mary Axe – better known by its nickname “The Gherkin” – is one of the most distinctive skyscrapers in London.  It stands on the site of the old Baltic Exchange, which was badly damaged by a Provisional IRA bomb in 1992 and subsequently demolished.  It was during excavations taking place prior to the construction of the Gherkin that, in 1995, the skeleton of a Roman Londoner who had lain undisturbed for 1,600 years was discovered.

On Bury Street, on one side of the skyscraper, there is an open paved area with seating and sculptures.  On the side of one of the low, smooth walls that double up as seats is a quite unexpected…

Source: The Roman girl buried beneath a London landmark | Flickering Lamps

1,500-year-old wine presses found in Netivot, Israel | Ancientfoods

Original Article:

mfa.gov.il

November 2015

The excavation revealed the remains of a late Byzantine period village dating to the 6th and 7th centuries. One of the most impressive finds of the excavation is a sophisticated wine press that was used to mass-produce wine.

(Communicated by the Israel Antiquities Authority)

In the course of preparations for the construction of a new residential neighborhood in the town of Netivot in the Negev, the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted a salvage excavation of the site. Youths from Netivot and Ashkelon were encouraged to volunteer in the dig, along with a group of future IDF recruits currently performing a year of community service in the area.

The excavation revealed the remains of a late Byzantine period village dating to the 6th and 7th centuries C.E., including a workshop, various buildings and two wine presses. Fragments of marble latticework in the form of a cross and…

Source: 1,500-year-old wine presses found in Netivot, Israel | Ancientfoods

Archaeologists discover previously unknown Anglo-Saxon industrial island in Lincolnshire | Culture24

This sceat was discovered on an Anglo-Saxon island in Lincolnshire © Portable Antiquities Scheme

An Anglo-Saxon island which could have been a monastic or trading centre in Lincolnshire is being described as one of the most important discoveries in decades by archaeologists, who say hundreds of dress pins, 21 styli and a “huge” number of 7th and 8th century coins are merely an “enticing glimpse” of an ancient settlement…

Source: Archaeologists discover previously unknown Anglo-Saxon industrial island in Lincolnshire | Culture24

Perfectly preserved bronze age wheel unearthed in Cambridgeshire | Science | The Guardian

The largest and most perfectly preserved bronze age wheel ever discovered in the UK, made of oak planks almost 3,000 years ago, has emerged from a site in Cambridgeshire dubbed a Fenland Pompeii.

“This site is one continuing surprise, but if you had asked me, a perfectly preserved wheel is the last thing I would have expected to find,” said the site director, Mark Knight, from the Cambridge university archaeology unit. “On this site objects never seen anywhere else tend to turn up in multiples, so it’s certainly not impossible we’ll go on to find another even better wheel.”

Archaeologists are carefully excavating the wheel, which was found still attached to its hub and scorched by…

Source: Perfectly preserved bronze age wheel unearthed in Cambridgeshire | Science | The Guardian

Where bread began: Ancient tools used to reconstruct — and taste — prehistoric cuisine | Ancientfoods

Original article:

Eurkalert.org

PUBLIC RELEASE: 26-AUG-2015

BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Team including researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Harvard University unravel the mystery of 12,500-year-old rock-cut mortars found throughout Southwestern Asia.

Using 12,500-year-old conical mortars carved into bedrock, they reconstructed how their ancient ancestors processed wild barley to produce groat meals, as well as a delicacy that might be termed “proto-pita” – small loaves of coal-baked, unleavened bread. In so doing, they re-enacted a critical moment in the rise of civilization: the emergence of wild-grain-based nutrition, some 2,000 to 3,000 years before our hunter-gatherer forebears would establish the sedentary farming communities which were the hallmark of the “Neolithic Revolution”.

The research team, consisting of independent researchers as well as faculty members from Bar-Ilan and Harvard Universities, conducted their study in the Late Natufian site of Huzuq Musa, located in Israel’s…

Source: Where bread began: Ancient tools used to reconstruct — and taste — prehistoric cuisine | Ancientfoods

Bulgarian Archaeologists Discover 11th Century Rakia Distillation Vessel | Ancientfoods

Original Article:
July 27, 2015
novitine.com

Bulgarian archaeologists recently discovered an 11th century fragment of a distillation vessel used for the production of the country’s traditional fruit brandy, which is known as rakia.

The fragment was uncovered during the excavation works, which are being conducted by the National Historical Museum (NIM) at the medieval Lyutitsa fortress.

The fortress is situated on a hill above the town of Ivaylovgrad and the find was discovered by the team of archaeologist Filip Petrunov, press statement of NIM informs.

This is the second vessel for the distillation of rakia to be uncovered at the fortress and the third one in Bulgaria.The first vessel at Lyutitsa was found in…

Source: Bulgarian Archaeologists Discover 11th Century Rakia Distillation Vessel | Ancientfoods

Julius Caesar’s genocide in the Netherlands discovery | Dear Kitty. Some blog

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Julius Caesar fought battle near Oss

Archaeologists say they found the final proof that Julius Caesar has marched around in what is now the Netherlands. They have identified the location of a battle in 55 BC in which Caesar defeated two Germanic tribes. Which took place at the present village Kessel in the municipality of Oss.

These two tribes were the…

Source: Julius Caesar’s genocide in the Netherlands discovery | Dear Kitty. Some blog