‘Everywhere they dig’: looters hunt antiquities in Albania

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Shards of ceramics litter the fields of an ancient city in southeastern Albania, where looters have raided the area’s highlands in search of antiquities to sell to international traffickers. Experts say illicit treasure hunters operate with near impunity in Albania [Credit: Gent Shkullaku/AFP] Illicit treasure hunters operate with near impunity in the country, stirring outrage…

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Albania, Archaeology, Europe, Heritage, Southern Europe

Underwater jars reveal Roman period winemaking practices

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Winemaking practices in coastal Italy during the Roman period involved using native grapes for making wine in jars waterproofed with imported tar pitch, according to a study published in the open-access journal From the amphorae to understanding the content; this multi-analytical analysis relied on archaeobotany and molecular identification [Credit: Louise Chassouant] The authors examined three Roman…

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Archaeobotany, Archaeology, Europe, Italy, Southern Europe

Tortoise and her egg found in new Pompeii excavations

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Archaeologists in Pompeii have discovered the remains of a pregnant tortoise that had sought refuge in the ruins of a home destroyed by an earthquake in 62 AD, only to be covered by volcanic ash and rock when Mount Vesuvius erupted 17 years later. Archaeologists work in the area of the Terme Stabiane inside the…

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Archaeology, Europe, Italy, Southern Europe

Results of the underwater survey off Aegean islet of Agios Petros, Alonissos

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An exploratory underwater survey was completed in the sunken part of the Neolithic settlement of Agios Petros located in the bay by that name of Kyra-Panagia, north of Alonissos. This is an important  site in the Aegean islands, the findings of which give a complete archaeological picture of the first agricultural groups that settled permanently…

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Archaeology, Europe, Greece, Southern Europe, Underwater Archaeology

New finds from the Antikythera shipwreck

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The second season of the underwater archaeological research on the Antikythera wreck (May 23-June 15, 2022), within the framework of the 2021-2025 five-year project, yielded rich findings. The research is being conducted by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece  under Dr. Angeliki G. Simosi, head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Euboea, and Lorenz…

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Archaeology, Europe, Greece, Southern Europe, Underwater Archaeology

Researchers reconstruct the genome of centuries-old E. coli using fragments extracted from an Italian mummy

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An international team led by researchers at McMaster University, working in collaboration with the University of Paris Cite, has identified and reconstructed the first ancient genome of E. coli, using fragments extracted from the gallstone of a 16th century mummy. Using pieces of a gallstone from a mummy from the 1500s, researchers have been able…

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Archaeology, Europe, Genetics, Italy, Southern Europe

Εxcavations at the Late Cypriot harbour city of Dromolaxia-Vyzakia

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The Department of Antiquities, of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, has announced that in May and June 2022 a team headed by Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, carried out excavations at the Late Cypriot harbour city of Dromolaxia-Vyzakia/Hala Sultan Tekke. This large Late Bronze Age city, which flourished…

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Archaeology, Cyprus, Europe, Southern Europe, Ticker

An elite education: discovery of an ancient Athenian ephebic list

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A stone monument with an ancient Greek inscription in the collections of National Museums Scotland was recently discovered to be a previously unknown, unpublished Athenian ephebic list. Principal Curator Margaret Maitland and the Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections project team explain the significance of this find, and what it tells us about Athenian society. Dr…

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Archaeology, Europe, Greece, Southern Europe

Industrial manufacturing of wool and wool textiles in the Bronze Age Italy

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Montale in northern Italy can have been one of the earliest centers in Europe for production of wool during the Bronze Age. Production may also have been on an industrial scale. Map of Italy indicating the Modena province and close up of Modena alta pianura and Apenine foothills with names of the sites mentioned in the…

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Archaeology, Europe, Italy, Southern Europe

Famous rock art cave in Spain was used by ancient humans for over 50,000 years

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A cave in southern Spain was used by ancient humans as a canvas for artwork and as a burial place for over 50,000 years, according to a study published in the open-access journal Excavation area in Cueva de Ardales with evidence from the Middle Palaeolithic period [Credit: Ramos-Munoz et al., 2022] Cueva de Ardales, a…

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Archaeology, Early Humans, Europe, Southern Europe, Spain