Hundreds of ancient sites have been discovered by aerial surveys, thanks to a dry start to the summer, English Heritage has said. The surveys show marks made when crops growing over buried features develop at a different rate from those nearby. The newly-discovered Roman and prehistoric settlements include a site near Bradford Abbas, Dorset. The Roman camp was revealed in June after three sides became visible in sun-parched fields of barley. The lightly-built defensive enclosure would have provided basic protection for Roman soldiers while on manoeuvres in the first century AD and is one of only four discovered in the south west of England, English Heritage said. [...]

Israeli archaeologists believe thousands of ancient shards of flint found scattered around a fire pit in a cave near Tel Aviv might be the world's oldest known disposable knives. Dating to the Stone Age, the tiny knives are believed to be at least 200,000 years old. A Tel Aviv University excavation team found the tools around a fireplace littered with charred animal bones. Archaeologist Ran Barkai said he believes Stone Age hunter-gatherers used the rough, round-shaped cutlery — ranging from the size of human teeth to guitar picks — for slicing through cooked meat because they were found next to the animal bones. The bones were used to determine the age of the knives. The number of knives found, coupled with the fact that they had no signs of sharpening, indicates they were disposable because they would have dulled after several uses, he said. [...]

A deadly, heavier relative of Velociraptor, which had twice as many giant sickle-like claws on its feet and was more of a kickboxer than its famous sprinter-like cousin, has been discovered in Romania. A partial skeleton of the predator, dubbed Balaur bondoc — " Balaur" from an archaic Romanian term for dragon, "bondoc" meaning stocky — was unearthed last year by Mtys Vremir, a geologist at the Transylvanian Museum Society. Fragmentary remains of this 6- to- 7-foot-long carnivore had been known for more than 10 years, but until now "we didn't have any idea where to fit them," explained researcher Zoltn Csiki, a paleontologist at the University of Bucharest. Back when Balaur lived — between 72 million and 65 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period — much of present-day Europe was awash in higher seas, and Romania was part of an island archipelago. [...]

La découverte de pointes de flèches, en Afrique du Sud, fait remonter de 20 000 ans l'apparition de la technologie de l'arc. Des traces de colle, sur les pointes en pierre taillée datées d'environ 64 000 ans, montrent qu'Homo sapiens savait déjà à cette époque concevoir des outils complexes, qui demandent un certain développement cognitif. Les pointes proviennent de sédiments de la grotte de Sibudu, située près la côte est de l'Afrique du Sud. Des analyses au microscope, effectuées par l'équipe de Marlize Lombard, archéologue à l'Université de Johannesburg, ont révélé la présence de résidus de sang et d'os collés aux pointes, ce qui laisse entendre qu'elles ont été utilisées pour la chasse. En localisant les lieux d'impacts sur les pointes et la façon dont elles ont été endommagées, les archéologues ont été en mesure de déterminer qu'elles étaient probablement des pointes de projectiles, plutôt que des pointes de lances tenues en main. Les détails des travaux ont paru dans la revue Antiquity. [...]

Les archéologues ont retrouvé en Albanie le buste d'un athlète de l'époque romaine, qui représente la plus importante découverte dans les 50 dernières années dans ce pays balkanique. «C'est une découverte exceptionnelle, la plus importante des 50 dernières années en Albanie, car le buste est intact»,a expliqué vendredi à l'AFP, le professeur Jean-Luc Lamboley, qui mène avec une équipe albanaise les fouilles sur le site de Apollonia 120 km au sud de Tirana. Selon les spécialistes, ce buste, qui mesure 84 cm de haut et 53 cm de large est intact et son exécution est d'une grande qualité. Il a été retrouvé en position verticale dans un grand égout de la partie occidentale de la ville où se situent des habitats d'époque hellénistique et romaine. [...]

Une mission archéologique égypto-américaine a découvert les restes d'un site vieux de plus de 3.500 ans, qui se trouvait sur la route commerçante reliant l'Egypte à ce qui est aujourd'hui le Darfour, dans l'ouest du Soudan, a annoncé mercredi le service des antiquités égyptiennes. D'un kilomètre de long sur 250 mètres de large, cette implantation date de la deuxième période intermédiaire (1650 ... [...]

The excavation of 93 ancient tombs at the No. 2 Ruins in Zhangduo Village under Xingtai's jurisdiction in China's Hebei Province finished a few days ago, and the relics have been checked and accepted by the provincial cultural relics bureau. These precious cultural relics show modern people the lives of ancient people over 2,000 years ago. An archaeological team discovered 104 ancient tombs at the No. 2 Ruins in Zhangduo Village under Xingtai's jurisdiction in 2009, and the purpose of this archaeological activity was to ensure the smooth progress of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. In early 2010, the archaeological team conducted a second investigation into the No. 2 Ruins, which has been renamed "Cemetery in Southern Zhangduo," at the request of the Hebei Cultural Relics Bureau and unearthed 93 ancient tombs. Li Jun, team leader in charge of the archaeological excavation, introduced the cultural relics excavated from the 93 tombs to the reporter. [...]

Syrian excavation expedition working at different archaeological sites in Sweida province (south of the country) unearthed a number of archaeological finds dating back to Hellenistic, Byzantine, Nabatean and Roman ages. Archaeological discoveries at al-Najma Palace included pottery finds, rings, beads, lanterns, coins, jars, bronze bracelets and golden earrings, Director of Sweida Antiquities Department Wasim al-Shaarani said. He added that the expedition also uncovered remnants of 2 perpendicular walls to the west of Sweida Theatre, under the Byzantine floor of houses scattered to the northwest of the small theatre (Odeon). At Tel al-Ahmar archaeological site, remnants of stone foundation to the southwest of the archaeological cavern were discovered as well as stone steps carved into the rock leading to the carven. Beads and pottery lanterns and jars dating back to the Byzantine age were found during excavation works at al-Ghariya graveyard. [...]

Archaeologists have found a gateway to the Viking Empire, which they believe was built to protect an important trading route. "Like wild hornets," reads an ancient description; the Vikings would plunder monasteries and entire cities from Ireland to Spain. The fact that the Vikings, who have since found their place as droll comic book characters, were also avid masons is slightly less well known. The structure is a three-meter-thick (10 feet) wall from the 8th century near Hedeby (known as Haithabu in German) and constructed completely out of stone. "The Vikings collected millions of rocks," Spiegel Online quoted archeologist Astrid Tummuscheit, who works for the state archeology office of Schleswig-Holstein, as saying. Tummuscheit's team have also discovered the only gate leading through the Danevirke, a five-meter (16 feet) wide portal. According to old writings, "horsemen and carts" used to stream through the gate, called "Wiglesdor." Next to it was a customs station and an inn that included a bordello. [...]

Workers at a housing project in Sheshatshiu, central Labrador, have uncovered 3,000-year-old artifacts, including tools and weapons. What started as a housing development has evolved into an archaeological dig. "It's a very important time period. It's the time period that's the least studied in Newfoundland and Labrador archeology, so its going to hopefully fill in a lot of gaps and help to answer a lot of questions," said archeologist Scott Neilson, one of the project's leaders. Some of the people working on the project grew up around the area where artifacts are now being found. They said it's rewarding work. "I love it. I really do. There is always a chance of something pretty amazing to be found, so it keeps you interested," said Judy Ashini. She's studying archeology at Memorial University of Newfoundland and grew up near the dig. [...]