Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,

John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,

Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley,

Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli, Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay,

Don Buck, mata kimasitayo, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week

(as always hoping I have left no one out).

Don Buck kindly resent the ‘posca’ link that I lost a couple of weeks ago:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/my-favorite-beverage-is-a-2-000-year-old-energy-drink-from-ancient-rome?utm_source=pocket-newtab

================================================================

EARLY HOMINIDS

================================================================

Early humans were also eating ‘hard plant foods’, judging by tooth wear:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/wuis-git011620.php

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8366-200120-teeth-hard-plants

Homo antecessor’s skull didn’t have room for wisdom teeth, apparently:

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-modern-homo-antecessor-insufficient-room.html

You might want to be aware, at least, of the Calaveras skull (but maybe not):

http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_e3678078-37ed-11ea-94be-5f045c4b5c2b.html

Human impact on large mammal populations goes back millions of years, apparently:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51068816

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8373-200122-africa-large-carnivores

Not really new, but interesting: footprint evidence of Neanderthals (maybe) climbing a volcano:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2020/01/23/fossilized-footprints-show-neanderthals-climbing-an-active-volcano/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2230655-neanderthals-may-have-climbed-an-active-volcano-soon-after-it-erupted/

More on ‘freediving’ Neanderthals:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/did-neanderthals-in-italy-go-diving-for-clamshells/

More on Homo Erectus’s survival in Indonesia:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/java-man-not-so-old-after-all

================================================================

AFRICA

================================================================

Feature on the pre-Colonial history of Africa:

https://aeon.co/essays/liberating-the-precolonial-history-of-africa

================================================================

ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT

================================================================

5500-10 000 years bp petroglyphs from a Sinai cave have been documented:

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/79874/In-Pics-Ancient-inscriptions-inside-South-Sinai-caves-documented

https://www.egyptindependent.com/archaeologists-document-12-thousand-year-old-inscription-in-south-sinai/

https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-egyptian-cave-paintings-donkey-people-1483601

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/ancient-cave-filled-with-10000yearold-cave-paintings-accidentally-discovered-by-egyptologists-in-sinai/

A Brazilian team working in Egypt has found a well in a Theban tomb (among other things):

https://anba.com.br/en/brazilian-mission-in-egypt-unearths-well-in-theban-tomb/

Plenty of attention this week for the reconstruction of a mummy’s voicebox (and ‘voice’):

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-3d-printed-vocal-tract-ancient-mummy.html

https://www.livescience.com/ancient-egypt-mummy-voice-reconstructed.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/science/mummy-voice.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/01/23/3000-year-old-egyptian-mummy-speaks-again-with-some-high-tech-help/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/23/talk-like-an-egyptian-mummys-voice-heard-3000-years-after-death

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51223828

https://elpais.com/elpais/2020/01/23/ciencia/1579781393_659180.html

https://www.cbs17.com/news/ancient-voice-scientists-recreate-sound-of-egyptian-mummy/

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799163513/scientists-recreate-vocal-tract-of-egyptian-priest-nesyamun

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/listen-recreated-voice-3000-year-old-egyptian-mummy-180974048/

Egypt is allowing archaeological reproductions to be sold at airports:

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/79802/Archaeological-reproductions-to-be-sold-in-Egyptian-airports

Interesting theory about the Sphinx:

https://www.9news.com/article/life/style/colorado-guide/snow-sculptures-and-the-great-sphinx/73-28a19db7-6a71-462c-997e-046891a7a940

Remains of a 10 000 years bp sheep-hunting camp in Lebanon:

https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-anthropologists-confirm-existence-prehistoric-sheep-hunting-camp-lebanon

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uot-ace012220.php

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-anthropologists-specialized-sheep-hunting-prehistoric-lebanon.html

https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-anthropologists-confirm-existence-prehistoric-sheep-hunting-camp-lebanon

What is being dubbed the ‘earliest mosaic in the world’ has been found at the Hittite site of Usakli Hoyuk:

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium.MAGAZINE-earliest-mosaic-in-the-world-found-in-turkey-1.8435728

a very interesting 3000 years bp rock cut Assyrian relief of a procession near Duhok:

https://www.livescience.com/assyrian-carvings-gods-mythical-creatures.html

An 8th century BCE religious complex of some sort from Tell Damiyah (Jordan):

https://menafn.com/1099573430/Excavations-at-ancient-sanctuary-in-Jordan-Valley-offer-glimpse-into-areas-religious-past

Finds from various periods from Tepe Ghala (Iran):

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/444419/Excavations-shed-new-light-on-millennia-old-hill-in-western-Iran

Analysis suggests two scribes were responsible for writing 31 8th century BCE ostraka from Samaria:

https://www.aftau.org/news-page-archaeology?=&storyid4677=2509&ncs4677=3&erid=8244618

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-reveals-writers-penned-landmark-inscriptions.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/afot-srt012220.php

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122154331.htm

https://www.livescience.com/assyrian-carvings-gods-mythical-creatures.html

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Two-scribes-behind-31-inscriptions-discovered-in-biblical-Samaria-615009

https://www.timesofisrael.com/illiterate-israelites-hi-tech-review-of-ancient-sherds-suggests-few-scribes/

https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2020/01/new-technology-sheds-light-on-literacy-in-ancient-israel/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227452

Latest find-by-a-schoolkid find in Israel is a partial Byzantine-era Greek inscription from Caesarea:

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/1500-year-old-Greek-inscription-uncovered-by-13-year-old-in-Caesarea-614967

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274936

https://www.jewishpress.com/news/archaeology-news/only-in-israel-boy-went-mushroom-picking-found-byzantine-marble-slab-with-greek-inscription-instead/2020/01/22/

http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2020-01/22/content_75640925.htm

Crusader-era finds from Tartous:

https://www.sana.sy/en/?p=183005

Interview with Ann Killebrew about this year’s dig at Akko:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/archaeologists-biblical-scholars-works/akkos-total-archaeology-experience/

Sagalassos is the latest site dealing with development v. archaeology issues:

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/archaeology-clashes-with-development-in-the-ancient-city-of.html

Somewhat vague thing on finds from Khalkedon:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-port-city-viewed-from-sky-151303

Pondering what lies beneath Hagia Sophia:

https://eu.greekreporter.com/2020/01/22/what-lies-hidden-under-hagia-sophia/

Bringing up the ‘Solomon’s Mines Found’ thing again:

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/King-Solomons-Mines-found-615234

Feature on olives in the ancient Mediterranean:

http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2020/01/pollen-olives

Feature (video) on restoring artifacts at Palmyra:

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/articles/videos/restoring-palmyras-artifacts.html

================================================================

ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)

================================================================

Interesting item on the metal trade in Late Neolithic Italy:

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-late-neolithic-italy-home-complex.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/p-lni011520.php

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122150019.htm

An Iron Age chariot burial found during construction of a sports complex in the Nevola River Valley (Italy):

https://www.livescience.com/princely-tomb-iron-age-italy.html

Foundations of a Roman aqueduct from Rodez (France):

https://www.inrap.fr/decouverte-de-nouvelles-fondations-du-pont-aqueduc-gallo-romain-de-rodez-14855

Some Roman pottery from Colchester:

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/18173293.roman-wall-works-reveal-snippets-towns-past/

Remains of a 2nd-4th century CE Roman settlement in Newport:

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/18179652.tantalising-glimpse-roman-life-gwent-levels/

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/roman-remains-newport-llanwern-skeleton-17616863

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-51227690

Late Roman burials from the Pafos agora:

https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/38652-surprise-discovery-of-late-roman-era-skeletons-and-robbers-baffle-researchers-of-ancient-pafos-agora.html

Vesuvius was much in the news this week, first with a claim that the eruption caused vitrification of brains:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2020/01/22/mt-vesuvius-may-have-turned-ancient-roman-brains-into-glass/

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-black-ad-italy-eruption-brain.html

https://www.livescience.com/vitrified-brain-of-vesuvius-victim-found.html

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/22/mount-vesuvius-eruption-victim-brain-glass

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/science/vesuvius-eruption-brains-glass.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51221334

https://www.foxnews.com/science/pompeii-vitrified-brains-volcano-mount-vesuvius

https://www.ilmattino.it/napoli/cultura/pompei_e_ercolano_eruzione_vesuvio_79_d_c-5000566.html

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1909867

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/extreme-heat-from-vesuvius-eruption-turned-one-victims-brain-to-glass/

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-eruption-of-mount-vesuvius-turned-this-ancient-victims-brain-to-glass

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/vesuvius-scorching-eruption-turned-mans-brain-glass-180974041/

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8379-200124-herculaneum-brain-glass

… then there was some revision over how victims at Pompeii died:

https://www.livescience.com/vesuvius-victims-herculaneum.html

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/studies-reveal-gruesome-last-moments-pompeii-volcano-s-victims

… then the silliness about a body belonging to Pliny the Elder being found return (n.b. they found his body two days after the eruption):

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-remains-found-by-pompeii-really-are-pliny-the-elder-new-tests-indicate-1.8439072

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2020/01/23/rome-skull-could-be-pliny-the-elders_5d4cbead-7b93-46c6-b49d-ad14ae212b42.html

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/rome-skull-belongs-to-pliny-the-elder.html

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pliny-the-elders-skull-surfaces-in-rome-3rggx9qrt

… and there was TV hype about a documentary about garum from Pompeii:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1230838/pompeii-archaeology-news-roman-secret-garum-sauce-mount-vesuvius-spt/amp

In case you missed word of the sinkhole that opened up near the Colosseum:

https://www.thelocal.it/20200120/building-evacuated-after-sinkhole-opens-up-near-romes-colosseum

Interesting feature on the original colours of the Parthenon Marbles:

https://www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/art-and-antiques/focus-belt-goddess-revealed-true-colours-parthenon-marbles-210858

A bit of a sideshow to the Dirk Obbink thing (somewhat misleading regarding ownership):

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/21/oxford-don-suspended-dirk-obbink-alleged-artefact-theft-myrowr-of-recluses-sale

What Mary Beard is up to:

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4529/mary_beard_to_give_latest_alice_bacon_lecture

Peter Jones on ‘Megxit’:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2020/01/what-would-the-ancient-greeks-have-made-of-megxit/

Interview with Daniel Mendelsohn on his *Ecstasy and Terror* collection:

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/daniel-mendelsohn-ecstasy-and-terror-from-the-greeks-to-game-of-thrones

Interesting presentation on Lucretius and mathematics:

http://hillsdalecollegian.com/2020/01/senior-presents-research-at-dc-conference/

Feature on Homer:

https://blog.britishmuseum.org/who-was-homer/

… and Elektra:

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/who-was-elektra/

On the tragedy that was Athens:

https://philosophynow.org/issues/136/The_Tragedy_That_Was_Athens

Interesting possible twist in the Parthenon Marbles saga (not probable):

https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/38619-british-museum-may-face-fine-if-it-doesn-t-return-parthenon-marbles-to-greece.html

https://neoskosmos.com/en/156682/update-to-museum-guidelines-could-see-british-museum-with-no-choice-but-to-return-parthenon-marbles/

https://eu.greekreporter.com/2020/01/21/new-guidelines-may-force-the-british-museum-to-return-the-parthenon-marbles/

Feature on a Turkish dentist’s private collection of antiquities:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/dentist-collecting-ancient-artifacts-for-25-years-151223

The Smarthistory folks put up a useful guide to Roman art:

https://smarthistory.org/guide-to-ancient-roman-art/

… and Etruscan:

https://smarthistory.org/etrruscan-book/

A nice aerial photo of Mount Olympus:

https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/01/21/aerial-photo-of-snow-capped-mount-olympus-goes-viral/

More on the Torlonia Collection:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-hidden-collection-ancient-sculpture-making-its-grand-debut-180974010/

More on that ‘aqueduct’ from Armenia:

http://asbarez.com/190534/archaeologists-discover-ancient-aqueduct-near-khor-virap/

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8364-200120-armenia-artashat-aqueduct

More on Meninx and the purple dye industry there:

https://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/news/newsarchiv/2020/ritter_meninx1.html

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-rome/meninx-mapped/

More on those ‘Amazon’ burials from Russia:

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/archaeologists-uncover-evidence-that-legendary-amazons-were-based-on-real-women-warriors

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/amazon-women-burial-russia-1760256

More on that Roman site in Somerset:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1231595/ancient-rome-archaeology-news-science-technology-somerset-uk-news

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7907585/Fifty-skeletons-Somerset-native-Britons-enslaved-Roman-Empire-2-000-years-ago.html

More on the Roman wall collapse in Colchester:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-51152431

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/archaeologists-seen-working-city-walls-17603046

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8365-200120-england-chester-wall

More on the impending opening of Augustus’ tomb:

http://famagusta-gazette.com/2020/01/21/augustus-tomb-in-rome-to-be-indispensable-tourist-stop-after-renovation/

France put up a statue honouring the creator of Asterix:

https://www.france24.com/en/20200123-by-toutatis-france-unveils-statue-to-asterix-creator

Comparing Boris Johnson to Alexander the Great:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/01/23/boris-johnson-can-conquer-brexit-new-alexander-great/

—–

Latest reviews from BMCR:

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html

Visit our blog:

http://rogueclassicism.com/

================================================================

EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)

================================================================

Interesting study of pair of Neolthic sites in Spain, suggesting at least two very different cultures possibly in conflict:

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-isotopes-teeth-megalithic-cultures-groups.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7916355/Two-rival-prehistoric-tribes-locked-lethal-violence-different-cultures.html

Remains of the first Byzantine monastery found on the Iberian peninsula:

https://eu.greekreporter.com/2020/01/22/first-byzantine-monastery-discovered-in-spain/

https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/01/24/remains-of-first-byzantine-monastery-discovered-in-spain/

https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/38653-first-byzantine-monastery-on-iberian-peninsula-found-in-spain.html

Interesting study of some medieval warrior burials from Poland:

http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C80395%2Cfour-warriors-buried-11th-century-tombs-pomerania-came-scandinavia-say-scientists

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8372-200122-poland-chamber-tombs

50 burials, including one of a medieval priest, from a dig at Lincoln Cathedral:

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2020/01/rare-medieval-priest-burial-discovered-at-lincoln-cathedral/

https://www.ibtimes.sg/archaeologists-discover-50-burials-including-medieval-priests-lincoln-cathedral-38268

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8378-200124-england-medieval-priest

Medieval items retrieved from a ‘cesspit’ beneath the Courtauld Institute of Art:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/26/medieval-treasures-sludge-cesspit-london

A stash of 19th century (?) Jewish ‘ritual ware’ from a dig at a synagogue in Poland:

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/judaica-experts-hail-amazing-discovery-of-treasure-while-digging-under-poland-synagogue-1.495926

Concerns for preservation of a Viking ship found back in 2018:

https://www.newsinenglish.no/2020/01/20/rot-hastens-viking-ships-excavation/

TV hype for a documentary about the 4000 years bp finds from Cliffsend:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1227815/archaeology-news-britain-mystery-solved-cliffsend-kent-bronze-age-bone-detectives-spt

… and some for the Must Farm site:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1232232/archaeology-news-crown-jewels-bronze-age-cambridgeshire-britain-pompeii-spt

Plans for a dig at Ripon Cathedral prior to cafe construction:

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage/archaeological-dig-planned-at-ripon-cathedral-ahead-of-bid-to-build-new-cafe-1-10205751

A 3d recreation of the ‘headdress’ of an Iron Age warrior found in a West Sussex burial:

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2020/01/23/3d-recreation-shows-elaborate-headdress-of-asterix-like-iron-age-mystery-warrior/

https://www.thenational.scot/news/uk-news/18182058.3d-recreation-shows-elaborate-headdress-asterix-like-iron-age-mystery-warrior/

https://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/18182058.3d-recreation-shows-elaborate-headdress-asterix-like-iron-age-mystery-warrior/

Feature on Colchester Castle:

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/18175883.keyhole-exploring-secret-vaults-colchester-castle/

Seeking Heritage Status for some Jewish heritage sites along the Rhine:

https://www.dw.com/en/jewish-heritage-along-the-rhine-might-be-named-a-world-cultural-heritage/a-52107041

A medieval ring found in a North Staffordshire field has been declared treasure:

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/medieval-ring-found-north-staffordshire-3770174

More on Vikings overhunting walruses:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/viking-colony-walrus-hunting

================================================================

ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC

================================================================

17 000 years bp artifacts from various caves in Gunung Pulai :

https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/507948

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/01/21/researchers-unearth-17000-year-old-artifacts-in-gunung-pulai-baling

https://www.thesundaily.my/local/17000-year-old-artifacts-unearthed-in-gunung-pulai-baling-DX1918137

Dental evidence suggests humans were transporting and growing bananas on Vanuatu some 3000 years bp:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uoo-3ts012220.php

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-year-old-teeth-pacific-banana-mystery.html

A Makara animal statue carved ‘on a rock’ from a Cambodia national park:

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50681625/ancient-statue-found-carved-in-rock-in-siem-reap

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8375-200123-cambodia-makara-statue

Construction at Cotton University revealed a Pala Empire era sun divinity statue:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/sun-god-emerges-from-earth-at-cotton-varsity/articleshow/73573399.cms

A 15th century (maybe) sake brewery from Honshu:

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ202001190005.html

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8367-200121-japan-sake-brewery

A Tulu language inscription from Padubidri:

https://www.deccanherald.com/state/mangaluru/tulu-stone-inscription-found-near-padubidri-796548.html

The fires in Australia have revealed some sort of 6000 years bp Aboriginal aquaculture structures:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-19/fire-reveals-further-parts-of-6600-year-old-aquatic-system/11876228?pfmredir=sm

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-wildfire-latest-aboriginal-aquaculture-system-budj-bim-pyramids-egypt-a9290746.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/asia/budj-bim-australia-bushfire-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/australian-bushfires-uncover-hidden-sections-ancient-aquaculture-system-180974028/

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8369-200121-australia-aquaculture-system

… but the fires also have likely damaged or destroyed many other sites:

https://www.newsweek.com/australia-fires-damaged-destroyed-thousands-aboriginal-sites-1483621

https://www.ibtimes.sg/australia-bushfire-taken-toll-ancient-aboriginal-sites-say-archaeologists-38214

Chinese archaeologists are tracing the history of the rat:

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/22/c_138727127.htm

================================================================

NORTH AMERICA

================================================================

Pondring the age of some mounds on the campus of LSU:

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_2256d93e-330a-11ea-b696-5785641b6610.html

A fourth burial (possibly Revolutionary War-related) from Ridgefield:

https://news.hamlethub.com/ridgefield/life/65452-retrieval-of-skeletons-is-complete-scientific-studies-begin

https://dailyvoice.com/connecticut/ridgefield/news/fourth-skeleton-found-in-ridgefield/782172/

https://news.hamlethub.com/ridgefield/life/65452-retrieval-of-skeletons-is-complete-scientific-studies-begin

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8371-200122-connecticut-revolutionary-war

A 19th century ‘witch bottle’ found beneath a Virginia highway:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/01/24/witch-bottle-discovered-virginia/

https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2020/civil-war-era-jug-found-on-highway-median-may-be-rare-witch-bottle.php

https://wtvr.com/2020/01/22/witch-bottle-virginia/

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8376-200123-virginia-witch-bottle

Study suggests climate, not humans, shaped the forests of New England:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/hu-ch011720.php

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-climate-humans-early-forests-england.html

… and Native Americans did not make large-scale changes to the environment prior to European contact:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/bu-nad011520.php

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122123700.htm

http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2020/01/uw-research-helps-show-limited-effects-of-native-americans-on-landscape-in-pre-pilgrim-new-england.html

Feature on archaeologists v treasure hunters off Cape Canaveral:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/shipwreck-off-floridas-coast-pits-treasure-archaeologists-against-treasure-hunters-180974018/

Feature on that 12 500 years bp site in Avon (Conn):

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-avon-archaeology-artifacts-data-20200126-ggnicuiagvc45nd2zyk4w54k5q-story.html

Some petroglyphs in Utah apparently won’t be listed on the National Register:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/01/19/volunteers-blm-worked/

https://hyperallergic.com/538712/ancient-utah-rock-art-at-risk-of-disappearing-completely/

================================================================

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA

================================================================

Remains of a 14th century ‘sweat lodge’ from Mexico City (we may have mentioned this):

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/remains-of-pre-hispanic-sweat-lodge-found/

https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2020/01/ancient-aztec-temazcal-uncovered-by-archaeologists-in-mexico-city/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51205284

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7916287/Native-American-14th-century-sweat-lodge-discovered-Mexico-City.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/14th-century-steam-bath-found-mexico-city-180974049/

https://gizmodo.com/14th-century-steambath-discovered-in-mexico-city-1841186171

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8377-200123-mexico-steam-bath

Also from Mexico City comes a very large pre-Hispanic house (this might be the same as the above):

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1228507/aztec-history-archaeology-news-hispanic-mexico-city-south-america-latest

Feature on a giant sloth ‘boneyard’ in Ecuador:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/paleontologists-dig-into-a-giant-sloth-boneyard/

A 2000 years bp Peruvian monument gets the #d preservation treatment:

https://www.livescience.com/peru-ancient-monolith-discovered.html

Feature on how Lower Manhattan has changed over the years:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/nyregion/downtown-manhattan-history.html

—–

Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Americas Breaking News:

http://goo.gl/1VdeA

Ancient MesoAmerica News:

http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/

================================================================

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

================================================================

On assorted quarantine events in history:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/26/799324436/a-history-of-quarantines-from-bubonic-plague-to-typhoid-mary

Treaty protection for the Titanic:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/titanic-protected-treaty-trnd/index.html

A long-questioned Van Gogh self portrait has been declared authentic:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51188829

https://elpais.com/cultura/2020/01/20/actualidad/1579524383_849908.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/van-gogh-self-portrait-painted-during-bout-psychosis-confirmed-authentic-180974017/

Pondering when the vulva became obscene:

https://menafn.com/1099584116/When-did-the-vulva-become-obscene

What we can learn from spines in archaeological contexts:

https://www.scotsman.com/heritage/spines-of-ancient-skeletons-hold-the-key-to-past-lives-says-scottish-researcher-1-5078258

Plans for cross-Atlantic events marking the anniversary of the Mayflower voyage:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/arts/design/mayflower-400-commemorations-native-american.html

Some folks aren’t happy with the Ghent altarpiece restoration:

https://www.livescience.com/ghent-altarpiece-creepy-sheep.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/22/alarmingly-humanoid-shear-disbelief-over-restoration-of-ghent-altarpiece

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2020/jan/22/ghent-altarpiece-humanoid-sheep-majestic-van-eyck

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51205614

Auction house feature on antique jewellery:

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/awakening-the-passion-for-antique-jewellery

… and one on the art of Tamara de Lempicka:

https://www.christies.com/features/Tamara-de-Lempicka-collecting-guide-10269-1.aspx?sc_lang=en

On the effects of philosophy on philosophers:

https://philosophynow.org/issues/136/What_Philosophy_Does_To_Philosophers

On the origins of domesticated wheat:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/p-dwh011520.php

On some alphabets facing extinction:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200121-the-alphabets-at-risk-of-extinction

An art historian has identified ten nazi-looted paintings at the Louvre:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/art-historian-identifies-rightful-heir-ten-nazi-looted-paintings-louvre-180974038/

On the history of the ‘vibrator’:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/opinion/vibrator-invention-myth.html

On English’s ‘pronoun problem’:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/books/review/whats-your-pronoun-dennis-baron.html

What we can learn from the French Revolution:

https://aeon.co/essays/what-can-we-learn-from-the-french-revolution-today

Feature on the cultural side of calendars:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/science/chinese-new-year-lunar-calendar.html

American houses apparently have a lot of bathrooms:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/why-do-american-houses-have-so-many-bathrooms/605338/

Learning from Mongolian dairy farmers:

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-ancient-dairy-mystery-modern-food.html

On the origins of the two-day weekend:

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200117-the-modern-phenomenon-of-the-weekend

https://theconversation.com/history-of-the-two-day-weekend-offers-lessons-for-todays-calls-for-a-four-day-week-127382

Feature on Victorian collectors of Egyptian items:

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/bolton-ancient-egypt-museums-collecting/

More on how humans boiled water:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/01/how-did-humans-cook-before-the-invention-of-pots/605008/

================================================================

MUSEUM MATTERS

================================================================

Gods in Color:

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/art-diary/gods-in-color/

Mummies (Montreal):

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/art-review-egyptian-mummies-show-montreal/

Tantra:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jan/23/sex-please-were-the-british-museum-tantra-exhibition-to-open

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/23/british-museum-exhibition-takes-sting-tantra-misconceptions/

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/british-museum-exhibition-to-challenge-salacious-stereotypes-around-tantra

https://londonist.com/london/museums-and-galleries/the-british-museum-is-doing-a-whole-exhibition-on-tantra

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/your-position-on-tantric-sex-is-all-wrong-british-museum-tells-sting-tthqrtbdz

Mayflower:

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/whats-on/new-exhibition-coming-lincoln-mark-3757472

Women at Work:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-last-exhibition-celebrates-centuries-women-work-180974022/

Emoglyphs:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/arts/design/emojis-hieroglyphs-israel-museum.html

https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/emoglyphs

Pre Raphaelite Sisters:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/revisiting-women-behind-pre-raphaelite-band-brothers-180974035/

Pregnancy Portraits:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/exhibition-spotlights-500-years-pregnancy-portraits-180974021/

Latest feature on decolonizing the museum:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/when-museums-have-ugly-pasts/603133/

A fire at the Museum of Chinese in America:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/fire-museum-chinese-america-new-york.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/nyregion/chinatown-museum-fire.html

Plans to move the National Archives at Seattle:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/terrible-and-disgusting-decision-to-close-national-archives-at-seattle-a-blow-to-tribes-historians-in-4-states/?#Echobox=1579991770

The Louvre has completed the restoration of the Apollo Gallery:

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20200116-the-louvre-museum-finishes-its-restoration-of-the-apollo-gallery

Latest coverage of transfers to the GEM:

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/79764/GEM-receives-356-artifacts-from-Tut-Ramses-II-Thutmose-III

https://egyptindependent.com/gem-receives-356-artifacts-including-57-treasures-of-king-tutankhamun/

================================================================

AUCTIONS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

================================================================

A collection of botanical drawings by Peter Collinson has been blocked from export:

https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2020/uk-buyer-sought-for-25m-collection-of-botanical-drawings-blocked-from-export/

… while a temporary ban on export of a Joseph Wright piece failed:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-51126178

================================================================

THE TECHY SIDE

================================================================

The impact of the smartphone on research:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/01/smartphone-archives-history-photography/605284/

================================================================

ON THE DNA FRONT

================================================================

DNA analysis of four burials from Shum Laka (Cameroon) have resulted in some ‘ghost population’ and other interesting genomic finds:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/hms-fad011720.php

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-ancient-dna-westcentral-africa-illuminates.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122134916.htm

https://www.livescience.com/ancient-dna-sub-saharan-africa.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/science/ancient-dna-africa.html

https://elpais.com/elpais/2020/01/24/ciencia/1579862192_003711.html

https://elpais.com/elpais/2020/01/20/ciencia/1579541107_415527.html

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1232553/archaeology-news-harvard-archeology-sequence-dna-8000-year-old-children

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/dna-child-burials-reveals-profoundly-different-human-landscape-ancient-africa

https://cosmosmagazine.com/archaeology/children-s-graves-reveal-genetic-diversity-of-ancient-west-africa

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/ancient-african-skeletons-hint-at-a-ghost-lineage-of-humans/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00167-5

https://www.archaeology.org/8374-200123-west-africa-dna

Studying the DNA of folks from pre-Hispanic Mexico:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/mbae-srp011520.php

================================================================

TOURISTY THINGS

================================================================

Astypalea:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/travel/astypalea-the-greek-island-that-time-forgot-cmwk6qmrt

Northwest Greece:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/travel/a-road-trip-through-northwest-greece-vjj9hhghl

World’s Oldest Cities:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/worlds-oldest-cities/

Pondering the destinations dealing with ‘overtourism’:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/overtourism-europe-2020-destination-measures/index.html

================================================================

PERFORMANCES

================================================================

Assorted dramas relating to black British history:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51177299

Gospel at Colonus:

https://onmilwaukee.com/ent/articles/the-gospel-at-colonus-skylight-review.html

================================================================

CRIME BEAT

================================================================

An Italian diplomat was found guilty of smuggling Egyptian antiquities:

https://www.egyptindependent.com/former-italian-diplomat-receives-15-year-sentence-for-smuggling-egyptian-artifacts/

https://www.thelocal.it/20200122/italian-diplomat-sentenced-for-smuggling-egyptian-artefacts

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/consul-jailed-for-smuggling-looted-egyptian-treasures-7vfmtq2rd

… and a guilty plea in that stolen Klimt case:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/21/klimt-art-thieves-confess-stealing-returning-painting-portrait-of-a-lady-italian-gallery

Some Old Masters stolen 40 years ago were recovered:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-old-masters-paintings-recovered-40-years-after-heist-180974019/

Some stolen Indian deities turn up in a Dallas Museum:

https://hyperallergic.com/530848/stolen-deities-resurface-in-a-dallas-museum/

Feature on Italy’s Art Crime Squad:

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-italys-art-crime-squad-protected-cultural-artifacts-five-decades

There is apparently a ‘surging’ market of fake prints right now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/arts/design/fake-art-prints.html

conflict antiquities:

http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/

anonymous swiss collector:

http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/

Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:

http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/

Looting Matters:

http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/

Illicit Cultural Property:

http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/

SAFE:

http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/

================================================================

REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY

================================================================

A German woman returned a few artifacts to Mexico:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-archeology-germany/three-pre-columbian-sculpted-faces-returned-to-mexico-from-germany-idUSKBN1ZG02T

http://www.archaeology.org/news/8368-200121-mexico-pottery-repatriation

More on Britain returning a looted sculpture to Afghanistan:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jan/18/met-police-help-recover-afghan-sculpture-looted-kabul

https://alkhaleejtoday.co/international/25210/Britain-returns-2000-year-old-Afghan-sculpture-stolen-during-civil-war.html

https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/britain-returns-2000-year-old-afghan-sculpture-stolen-during-civil-war-1.966891

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-30-years-looted-kushan-bull-sculpture-return-afghanistans-kabul-museum-180974034/

https://www.archaeology.org/news/8370-200121-afghanistan-sculpture-recovered

On the difficulties of repatriation of the Benin Bronzes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/arts/design/benin-bronzes.html

================================================================

NUMISMATICA

================================================================

Feature on coins of Alexander the Great:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-d4a6df1b-995d-4d0d-a562-43bd47b86afb

Latest e-Sylum:

http://www.coinbooks.org/v23/club_nbs_esylum_v23n03.html

… and the one which should appear later today:

http://www.coinbooks.org/v23/club_nbs_esylum_v23n04.html

————————

Ancient Coin Collecting:

http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coins:

http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/

Coin Week:

http://www.coinweek.com/

================================================================

OBITUARIES

================================================================

E.J. Kenney:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-ej-kenney-obituary-r798h8ksd

Lee Gelber:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/nyregion/lee-gelber-dead.html

================================================================

AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS

================================================================

Audio News from Archaeologica:

https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/2913-audio-news-from-archaeologica-jan-12-through-january-18-2020

================================================================

GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS

================================================================

Archaeology Magazine News Page:

http://www.archaeology.org/news/

About.com Archaeology:

http://archaeology.about.com/

Ancient Digger:

http://www.ancientdigger.com/

Archaeology Briefs:

http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/

Past Horizons:

http://www.pasthorizons.com/

Stonepages:

http://www.stonepages.com/news/

Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:

http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/

Time Machine:

http://heatherpringle.wordpress.com/

================================================================

PODCASTS/VODCASTS

================================================================

Archaeosoup:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch

Archaeology Podcast Network:

http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/

The Book and the Spade:

http://www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm

================================================================

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