Treasure Hunt

Newsreel

It’s been a while since one of these. There’s been a lot of other things going on, so we haven’t had room. The Richard III results aren’t in yet, so I won’t talk about that. But there have been a lot of cool discoveries in the field,  mostly relating to treasure. Let’s face it, nothing glitters like gold, no matter what the Lord of the Rings tells you. 

Times Long Past

Some archaeologists dig up ancient people. Okay, most of them do. Some of them find villages, or even settlements. Vasil Nikolov, former head of the Bulgarian National Archaeology Institute, found a civilization. The site is more than 100 metres in diameter, and dates between 4700 and 4200 BC, making it the oldest settlement in Europe. They’re digging up all kinds of crazy things there, including gold, jewelry, and a unique kind of tiara. And they’re just getting started. According to Nikolov, it’ll take at least seven generations of archaeologists to dig out all the secrets there. If you’ve got an interest in ancient European culture or eastern European archaeology, there might not be a better place to start. You can read the full article at the SETimes.

Show Me the Money

Finding a civilization is cool, but it’s all about the Benjamins, I’m told. Even though we don’t have those here. They don’t have them in Russia either, but that didn’t stop archaeologists from unearthing a two thousand year old treasure trove in the Ukraine. The hoard was found in a battered fortress within the Artezian settlement, and includes over two hundred coins, as well as a number of other artifacts. Professor Vinokurov of the Moscow State Pedagogical University remarked that the settlement had been besieged by the Romans, causing the wealthy to bury their treasure in the hopes of reclaiming it. Well, one man’s treasure is another man’s…Umm…Treasure. Read the whole story on the Archaeology News Network.

Everything’s Better, Where it is Wetter

Remember the story we had about that bunch of bronze pieces from a hundred year old discovery that turned out to be the world’s first computer? Well, we’re finally making a return to the Antikythera wreck, to get all the stuff we left down there a hundred years ago, because we couldn’t get it out. Brendan P. Foley of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has put together a team of divers and gone down to survey the site. Because nobody’s done that yet. Jacques Cousteau was only down there for a few days. So far, it’s an archaeological gold mine, because the area has been pretty much undisturbed. Any bets on what they’ll find? I’m hoping it’ll be the world’s oldest computer game, but I’m not going to hold my breath. The full piece is over at the History Blog.

That’s it for today. Everybody have a good weekend, and if you’re going to Rome, make sure you get your things in on time. There’s been a major update to the trip.

Jim Tigwell just wants to run Starcraft on the Antikythera Mechanism. Remind him about how Protoss are totally overpowered Twitter.