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POPSCavern dig uncovers 15,000-year-old weapon more: "Many Torbay residents know Kents Cavern as a tourist attraction, but I don't think many realise just how important an archaeological site the caves are, not just in Britain but in Europe, and it is the oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument in Britain, with evidence of human occupation dating back half a million years — and as such it's the oldest recognisable human dwelling in the entire country."
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POPSMajor pre-Columbian sites found in Puerto Rico more (at source): The plaza may contain other artifacts dating from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D., including piles of refuse from daily life, Rivera said. "I have visited many sites and have never seen a plaza of that magnitude and of those dimensions and with such elaborate petroglyphs," said Miguel Rodriguez, member of the government's archaeological council and director of a graduate school in Puerto Rico that specializes in history and humanities. He is not involved in the excavation project. Archeologists have known since 1985 that the area contained indigenous artifacts. But their extent and significance only became clear this month when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on removing them so the land could be used for a dam project.
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POPSAncient Granary Predates Agriculture In a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers announced the discovery of a granary for storing wild barley and oats, which was built well before the advent of agriculture.
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POPSLost Aztec tomb lies under Mexico City more (at source): Since he uncovered a carved monolith of the ferocious earth deity Tlaltecuhtli in 2006, there has been intense speculation, based on historical writings and their own discoveries, that the four-metre-by-3.5-metre stone covers a royal tomb. The stone monolith is inscribed with dates and language associated with Ahuitzotl, a king who died in 1502. Radar indicates "anomalies" under the monolith, which could be funerary spaces. Though archeological finds in Mexico City date back to 1790, no one has ever found the burial site of an Aztec king. "Everyone wants us to dig faster," says Lopez, "and this is the only thing we cannot do.
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POPSAnimal, human statues found in Burnt City more: Over 400 prehistoric sites have been excavated in Burnt City and archeologists expect the number to reach 1000. The 5000-year-old Burnt City is located near the city of Zabol and covers an area of over 300,000 hectares. Four civilizations have lived in the city which was burnt down three times; it was not rebuilt after the last fire. The world's oldest animated picture-book, dice and backgammon set, the earliest known caraway seed and artificial eyeball all been found in the Burnt City.
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POPSMISSING LINK FOUND. This is some remarkable news. I'm sure it will be clipmarked excessively. Imagine scientists' delight in discovering such a find. It makes you wish you were a scientist. Here is more from the article: A team of amateur fossil hunters discovered the near-perfect remains inside a mile-wide crater outside of Frankfurt in 1983. Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the inexperienced archeologists didn't realize the value of their find. Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil, and Hurum studied it in secret for two years. His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as "the eighth wonder of the world." "We're not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps with our grand, grand, grand aunt," Franzen said. A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week. http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+History+Channel or on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4NtmZjR3_c
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POPS'Woodhenge" found in soil of Hill of Tara continues: Study of the remains of tree trunks have prompted scientists to conclude the hill was once surrounded by a “wooden version of Stonehenge” that would have been 250 metres in diameter, a “massive scale” similar in size to Croke Park. Archeologists believe elaborately decorated timber posts and crossbars rose out of the ditch and surrounded the tomb, which is believed to be Tara’s oldest monument. It is estimated the mound was raised in about 3,000BC, making it a contemporary of Stonehenge, the ancient monument in the English county of Wiltshire, and the pyramids of Egypt.
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POPSUnderwater stones puzzle archeologists Reminds me of the joke were the student ask the archeologist "have you ever seen an African sex stone. The archeologist replied that he hadn't and wanted to know more. The student replied "it's just a plain old f***ing rock. These look like sex stones to me.
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POPS5,000 Year Old Canadian Calendar continues: "Genius existed on the prairies 5,000 years ago," says Freeman, the widely published former head of the university's physical and theoretical chemistry department. Freeman's fascination with prairie prehistory dates back to his Saskatchewan boyhood. He and his father would comb the short grasses of the plains in search of artifacts exposed by the scouring wind. That curiosity never left him and he returned to it as he prepared to retire from active teaching.
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POPS"Moon-eyed people" continues: As the legend goes, the group arrived at Mobile Bay around 1170, made their way up the Alabama and Coosa rivers and built stone fortifications at several spots near present-day Chattanooga, Tenn. Dana Olson, an author who has spent decades trying to prove the legend, said circumstantial evidence on both sides of the Atlantic is too compelling to ignore. "I've traveled all over the country finding these forts. Some of them are pretty well known, but I'm still uncovering some of them," said Olson, the author of "The Legend of Prince Madoc and the White Indians."