archeology news stories on Newser

Phew! This Mayan Calendar Doesn't Stop at 2012

Matt Cantor — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:17:07 CDT

Everybody can calm down now: Looks like the Mayans didn't think the world would end this year after all. Researchers have discovered astronomical calculations on the wall of an ancient Mayan site that suggest "dates thousands of years beyond" 2012, reports National Geographic . The find came at the Mayan ruins...

Ancient Instrument Pushes Music History Back 1K Years

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:18:15 CDT

Turns out even ancient Europeans liked subtle and complex music. Archeologists have found part of a 2,300-year-old lyre—the oldest instrument ever discovered in western Europe—inside a Scottish cave, the Daily Mail reports. The broken and burnt piece of wood "pushes the history of complex music back more...

Book Upends Theory About First Americans' Arrival

Matt Cantor — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:23:02 CST

Forget what you learned in school about the first Americans: A new theory is turning archeological assumptions upside down. A pair of experts on ancient history assert that the first Europeans arrived in the Mid-Atlantic region 20,000 years ago, during the Stone Age—rejecting the standard theory that North...

42K-Year-Old Tuna Dinner Discovered

Matt Cantor — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:44:33 CST

It gives “leftovers” a whole new meaning: Archeologists have discovered the remnants of a 42,000-year-old tuna meal, they say. They found tuna and shark bones in an East Timor cave, near Australia. The findings suggest that ancient humans were capable of deep-sea fishing, shedding light on questions over how...

2nd Mayan Tablet Linked to 2012 Apocalypse

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:32:24 CST

The bad news is that Mayan ruins make not one but two apparent references to a possible apocalypse in 2012 . The good news—maybe—is that Mexican archeologists say not to worry about it. Experts have finally confirmed that a second suspected reference to 2012 was found at the Comalcalco...

Save Sex Pistols Graffiti, Archeologists Plead

Rob Quinn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:43:00 CST

Graffiti scrawled on the walls of a London flat by the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten in the '70s is worth preserving and can be compared to ancient cave paintings, top archaeologists are arguing. Researchers who studied the graffiti in an apartment once occupied by the punk pioneers call the scribbling...

Radar Finds Preserved Roman Gladiator School

John Johnson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:58:39 CDT

Archeologists near Vienna, Austria, say underground radar has made a spectacular find: a Roman gladiator school that appears to be in better shape than any found so far, reports Der Spiegel . It even still has the wooden post used to represent an opponent in the arena. Don't bank on seeing...

Captain Morgan's Ship Found, Thanks to Rum

Kevin Spak — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:40:05 CDT

How’s this for marketing genius: Archeologists are reasonably certain they’ve discovered one of the lost ships of infamous privateer Henry Morgan—in an expedition financed in part by Captain Morgan rum. “There’s definitely an irony in the situation,” one archeologist tells Discovery News . Morgan lost five ships in his raid...

Roman-Era Basilica Unearthed on Egypt's Coast

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:21:52 CDT

Egyptian officials say archaeologists have unearthed the first basilica erected in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Antiquities authorities say the basilica is dated to the Roman era and was built on the ruins of a temple from the Ptolemaic reign—a period that ended with the death of Cleopatra....