Showing posts tagged archaeology
Scientists share images of lost city in Honduras NBC News: A high-tech team of scientists and filmmakers shared pictures of what appears to have been a centuries-old civilization in Honduras, one year after they used laser-mapping technology to identify traces of structures in the thick jungle. The square-shaped and rounded structures, seen in computerized elevation maps of a rugged rain forest, may have been the last vestiges of pyramids, palaces and houses in a fabled settlement known as “la Ciudad Blanca,” or the White City. Photo: Readings from a laser-mapping system were combined to produce a 3-D map of the Honduran rain forest, and then the vegetation was virtually lifted up from the scene to reveal the ruins of a circular structure. (UTL Scientific) View high resolution

Scientists share images of lost city in Honduras

NBC News: A high-tech team of scientists and filmmakers shared pictures of what appears to have been a centuries-old civilization in Honduras, one year after they used laser-mapping technology to identify traces of structures in the thick jungle.

The square-shaped and rounded structures, seen in computerized elevation maps of a rugged rain forest, may have been the last vestiges of pyramids, palaces and houses in a fabled settlement known as “la Ciudad Blanca,” or the White City.

Photo: Readings from a laser-mapping system were combined to produce a 3-D map of the Honduran rain forest, and then the vegetation was virtually lifted up from the scene to reveal the ruins of a circular structure. (UTL Scientific)

Bulldozer destroys Mayan pyramid in Belize AP: A construction company has essentially destroyed one of Belize’s largest Mayan pyramids with backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, authorities announced on Monday. The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, Jaime Awe, said the destruction at the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was detected late last week. The ceremonial center dates back at least 2,300 years and is the most important site in northern Belize, near the border with Mexico. View high resolution

Bulldozer destroys Mayan pyramid in Belize

AP:

A construction company has essentially destroyed one of Belize’s largest Mayan pyramids with backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, authorities announced on Monday.

The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, Jaime Awe, said the destruction at the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was detected late last week. The ceremonial center dates back at least 2,300 years and is the most important site in northern Belize, near the border with Mexico.

Robot finds surprise in Mexico’s ancient Temple of Quetzalcoatl NBC News: A diminutive robot helped researchers make a substantial discovery during preliminary tests conducted in a tunnel running under the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, the team said Monday. The team expected to find only one chamber in the last section of the tunnel — but instead, they found three, team leader Sergio Gomez said in a report published by the Mexican newspaper El Universal. The chambers are thought to have been used by Teotihuacan’s rulers roughly 2,000 years ago for royal ceremonies or burials, but they’re so choked with mud and rubble that they haven’t been explored in modern times. Photo: A worker from the National Institute of Anthropology and History walks next to a robot used to explore ruins at the entrance of a tunnel in the archaeological area of the Quetzalcoatl Temple, near the Pyramid of the Sun at the Teotihuacan archaeological site.(Henry Romero / Reuters)

Robot finds surprise in Mexico’s ancient Temple of Quetzalcoatl

NBC News: A diminutive robot helped researchers make a substantial discovery during preliminary tests conducted in a tunnel running under the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, the team said Monday.

The team expected to find only one chamber in the last section of the tunnel — but instead, they found three, team leader Sergio Gomez said in a report published by the Mexican newspaper El Universal. The chambers are thought to have been used by Teotihuacan’s rulers roughly 2,000 years ago for royal ceremonies or burials, but they’re so choked with mud and rubble that they haven’t been explored in modern times.

Photo: A worker from the National Institute of Anthropology and History walks next to a robot used to explore ruins at the entrance of a tunnel in the archaeological area of the Quetzalcoatl Temple, near the Pyramid of the Sun at the Teotihuacan archaeological site.(Henry Romero / Reuters)

Scientists confirm body of King Richard III found BBC News: A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English King Richard III. Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch’s family. Photo: Men dressed as medieval knights pose for pictures in Leicester, at a site where a skeleton that researchers say is King Richard III was found. (Gavin Fogg / AFP - Getty Images)

Scientists confirm body of King Richard III found

BBC News: A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English King Richard III.

Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch’s family.

Photo: Men dressed as medieval knights pose for pictures in Leicester, at a site where a skeleton that researchers say is King Richard III was found. (Gavin Fogg / AFP - Getty Images)

Ancient Thracian gold hoard unearthed in Bulgaria

Reuters: Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered ancient golden artifacts, including bracelets with snake heads and a tiara with animal motifs during excavating a Thracian tomb in northern Bulgaria.

The new artifacts are dated back to the end of the 4th or beginning of 3rd century BC. They were found in the biggest of 150 ancient tombs of a Thracian tribe, the Getae.

Archaeologists have found a large number of artifacts in Bulgaria’s Thracian tombs in recent decades.

Gold coins found at Israel Crusades site

Reuters: A 1,000-year-old hoard of gold coins has been found at a Crusader battleground, Israeli archaeologists say. The 108 coins are part of one of the biggest collections of ancient coins discovered in Israel.

The gold coins weigh a total of around 14 ounces (400 grams). Some were minted 2 centuries earlier in Egypt.