Archaeologists from the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts have found two ancient Mayan cities hidden in the jungle of southeastern Mexico, and they believe there are more to be found in the region.

As reported by a number of news outlets, Ivan Sprajc, associate professor at the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said his team found the ancient cities of Lagunita and Tamchen on the Yucatan peninsula in April by examining aerial photographs of the region

Archaeologists believe that the two cities reached theirheyday in the Late and Terminal Classic periods (600-1000 AD). At each site, researchers found palace-like buildings, pyramids and plazas. One of the pyramids is almost 20 meters (65 feet) high

Researchers also found a facade featuring a monster-mouth doorway, which probably marked one of the main entrances to the center of the city. “The entrance apparently symbolizes the entrance to a cave and to the underworld. The sites have not been excavated yet.

Last summer, Sprajc discovered another ancient Mayan city, Chactun, 10 km (6 miles) north of Lagunita and 6 km (4 miles) northwest of Tamchen.

Earlier this month (August 2014), UNESCO announced new strategy and prioritization to safeguard National Heritage sites in the conflict zones. “Recent events in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Mali have highlighted the multiple threats to cultural heritage during crisis, including deliberate attacks, destruction as collateral damage in fighting, the greed of unscrupulous traders and collectors, vandalism of factions that seek to erase the achievements of past cultures.” UNESCO stated.

UNESCO believes that recent events have shown the complexity of any intervention to safeguard cultural heritage. UNESCO in the past has developed a comprehensive set of international instruments to protect cultural heritage. The Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and the World Heritage Convention(1972) provide a solid basis to protect cultural heritage. The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Properties in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its Protocols set further international standards to deal with the specific risks faced by heritage during conflict. In addition, the Statutes of the International Criminal Court have defined the intentional destruction of historical buildings as a war crime.

Recognizing the powerful role of culture in building social cohesion and contributing to reconciliation and peace, the UN Security Council—in its Resolution 2100 on Mali, and Resolution 2139 on Syria–called for the protection of cultural heritage and diversity. The integration of culture in humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction operations provides the challenging opportunity of defining how cultural heritage protection can effectively contribute to the broader UN crisis response as UNESCO states.

History and the events of the last few years have shown that conflicts take a heavy toll on National Heritage. More than three years of conflict have taken a heavy toll on heritage in Syria. This is the reason why UNESCO has launched a web-based international observatory to monitor the situation of cultural heritage in Syria and help international cooperation to protect the country’s heritage.

In their Joint Appeal for the safeguarding of Syria’s cultural heritage, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and then UN and League of Arab States Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi stressed this important risk and its devastating implications. Due to the recent upsurge of new conflict in Iraq UNESCO recently organized an Emergency Experts’ meeting for the safeguarding of the Iraq’s cultural heritage, bringing together Iraqi and international expertise to design an Emergency Response Action Plan for the protection of the country’s cultural heritage at risk.

A key lesson learned from the implementation of these international standards at the country level, is that prevention and long-term engagement are essential to mitigate the impact of any crisis as UNESCO states. However, in the case of many of these countries it is essential that beyond country reporting more international partnerships are created for reporting, prevention, documentation and hopefully eventual repair and construction.

As reported by Huffington Post and other media outlets last week, a 2,000-year-old cemetery has been discovered near the Nile River in Sudan. The cemetery which contains several underground tombs is located near the Nile River in Sudan. Archaeologists excavated several of the underground tombs, finding artifacts such as a silver ring, engraved with an image of a god, and a faience box, decorated with large eyes, which researchers believe protected against the evil eye.

The cemetery dates back to a time when a kingdom called Kush flourished in Sudan. Based in the ancient city of Meroe (just south of Dangeil) Kush controlled a vast territory; its northern border stretched to Roman-controlled Egypt. At times, it was ruled by a queen. Although the Kushites built hundreds of pyramids, this particular cemetery contains no structures on the surface; the tombs are underground.

Even though the villagers discovered the cemetery accidently in 2002 while digging a ditch near the modern-day village of Dangeil, the archaeological excavations have been ongoing since then by Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project; a collaboration between Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums and the British Museum and the finds have recently been reported in a new book.

The team has discovered a wide range of artifacts meant to aid the deceased in the afterlife, including several large, a silver ring with an image of a horned deity, an interesting “party tray,” which consists of seven bowls attached together; six of the bowls, engraved with an image of a god, and a faience box, decorated with large eyes. The evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware. Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury.

Polish archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology in Poznań have discovered the remains of a settlement estimated to 70,000 years old during excavations in northern Sudan,. This find, according to the researchers, seems to contradict the previously held belief that the construction of permanent structures was associated with the so-called Great Exodus from Africa and occupation of the colder regions of Europe and Asia (as reported by http://www.archeosudan.org/).

The site which is known as Affad 23, is currently the only one recorded in the Nile Valley which shows that early Homo sapiens built sizeable permanent structures, and had adapted well to the wetland environment. This new evidence points to a much more advanced level of human development and adaptation in Africa during the Middle Palaeolithic.

Another interesting project that researchers are also working on is a list of animal species that these early humans hunted. Despite the relatively simple flint tools produced using the Levallois technique; these humans were able to hunt large, dangerous mammals such as hippos, elephants and buffalo, as well as small, nimble monkeys and cane rats (large rodents that inhabited the wetlands). This year, the researchers intended to precisely date the time period in which the Palaeolithic hunters lived here, using optically stimulated luminescence.

The Polish team is working with scientists from Oxford Brookes University, who are helping to analyze the geological history of the area. The results will help determine climatic and environmental conditions that prevailed in the Central Nile Valley during the late Pleistocene and hope to identify factors that contributed to the excellent state of preservation at the Affad 23 site.

Excerpts with permission from Science and Scholarship in Poland, 70,000 year-old African settlement unearthed. Past Horizon, July 20, 2014. From http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/07/2014/70000-year-old-african-settlement-unearthed

World Heritage sites are continuously exposed to natural and man-made disasters which threaten their integrity and may compromise their values. The loss or deterioration of these outstanding properties would negatively impact local and national communities, both for their cultural importance as a source of information on the past and a symbol of identity, and for their socio-economic value.

For example, many sites have been found to be sites at risk and it would surprise anybody to see what sites are on the list. Venice was built on 118 islands was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. However, the whole city has been listed as one of the UNESCO sites at risk because of rising sea levels due to global warming. Another city and UNESCO sit that will be threatened by rising sea levels is the French port city of Bordeaux, Port de la lune, has a trading and commerce history spanning over 1,000 years. Croatia’s Dubrovnik is a well-preserved medieval walled city situated on the Dalmatian coast. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, but it is believed to be at risk due to rising water levels.

UNESCO has created a strategy focused on preservation of many sites. The Strategy identifies five objectives and related actions. They are structured around the five main priorities for action defined by the Hyogo Framework for Action, the main UN-wide policy on the subject of Disaster Reduction, and are also in line with Article 5 of the World heritage Convention as well as the Strategic Objectives established through the Budapest Declaration. The five key objectives are:

1. Strengthen support within relevant global, regional, national and local institutions for reducing risks at World Heritage properties;
2. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of disaster prevention at World Heritage properties;
3. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks at World Heritage properties;
4. Reduce underlying risk factors at World Heritage properties;
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness at World Heritage properties for effective response at all levels.

Even though these declarations were made several years ago, it is clear that we still need a global strategy that addresses environmental causes and better ways of management and conservation.

Pollution and dumping of toxic chemicals or environmental pollutants are also another cause of damage to heritage sites. Two recent major reports Australian news outlets into health and management of the Great Barrier Reef show that parts of the World Heritage site are still under pressure and the central and southern areas are deteriorating (according to Australia ABC news).

It has also been reported that the UNESCO is concerned about the Abbot Point Port expansion and the plan to dump three million cubic meters of dredge spoil within the marine park.

Better strategies and guidelines as well as advocacies are needed in order to protect more UNESCO World Heritage Member sites as it looks like just inscribing them does not protect them from neglect, damage and deterioration.

Can you imagine a time when there will be no more elephants on Earth, and when the only way you can see an elephant is actually seeing a picture in a book listing elephants as extinct? It sounds like a nightmare, well, at least to me. However, according to some recent reports, it is quite possible that in the next twenty years, planet’s elephants could become extinct. Elephants are not only magnificent and beautiful animals but they are believed to have complex intelligence and emotions. They laugh and cry and can use tools. So, do we want a world without elephants?

In a recent excellent article by Michael Tomasky in the Daily Beast, he discusses this very important subject and why this is happening. According to Tomasky, the lust and desire for ivory, especially by China and some other Asian countries including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam is driving the illegal poaching and the ivory trade between China and Africa. The vicious trade in ivory could lead to the extinction of the species in twenty years or even less. The number of elephants in Africa has gone from around 1 million to roughly half that in the last 35 years. And the population is falling even faster now according to Tomasky.

Many question the statistics. Last year BBC reported that an estimated 25,000 elephants were killed in 2011 and that the numbers for 2012 were actually higher. We first were alarmed in the 1980s about the rapid loss of elephants and as a result worldwide ban on the ivory trade was enacted by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It worked. Poaching fell off dramatically, and the black market price of ivory dropped. However, many countries in Africa including Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia were permitted a “one-off” legal sale of 108,000 pounds of ivory to Japan. Tusk weights vary a lot, but that’s maybe 1,400 dead elephants according to Tomasky. There was another “one-off” sale in 2002, and then in 2008, the big one: After some aggressive lobbying by China in particular, CITES approved a sale of 110 tons of African ivory to China and Japan (which split it 60 tons to 50, respectively) on the theory that legal sales of large ivory stockpiles might depress the price and thereby slow poaching. The opposite happened—China controlled the supply of legal ivory tightly, which meant the demand was being met by the illegal stock. Today, ivory prices are at record highs, having tripled since that 2008 auction, up to around $1,500 a pound.

Earlier this week the US National Public Radio (NPR), in a program featured a number of African heads of state speaking at the Africa summit hosted by the White House, about their need for “high-tech help” to fight the poachers. “When the four presidents were asked what they need from the United States, the answers revealed how militarily sophisticated the poachers have become,” reported NPR’s Gregory Warner (wrote Tomasky). “Namibia asked for light attack helicopters. Tanzania for night-vision goggles. Togo for infrared scanners to use at its port.”

So who is to blame? Well, according to the reports, everyone, including the US. Obama administration promised in 2008 to create effective enforcement systems for monitoring both tusks and worked ivory. However, it has done nothing. There is also lobbying against a ban for African elephant ivory and one of the major organizations is the National Rifle Association (NRA). It is because there’s ivory in some antique guns.

According to Allan Thornton, the head of the Environmental Investigation Agency, a Washington- and London-based nonprofit that conducts undercover investigations to expose environmental crimes; “They (the US government) really just didn’t have the political commitment to enforce anything,” Thornton says. The good news however is that pressure is building even inside China for a ban. For example, a new celebrity who has lent his name to the campaign is Yao Ming, the former NBA star who’s an icon in China.

Translated by WCHV

According to several news networks in Iran, two ancient heritage tablet dated back to the Sassanian period are in danger of being destroyed. The two inscriptions on the ancient tablets show the Sassanid king in his hunting grounds and shed light on the hunting rituals of the time. Heritage experts believe that the inscriptions have invaluable linguistics, historical, and anthropological significance.

The recent reports from Iran show that these priceless ancient tablets were found abandoned and dumped among piles of rubbish with no protection from the elements. In addition, these tablets are now in danger, vulnerable and could be taken by people who have no knowledge of ancient heritage. Threats to national heritage artifacts have been widely ignored in many places in Iran. About six years ago, thieves trying to steal some artifacts set up explosives at a site which fortunately did not create much damage.

As reported by many news outlets last week, the militants have blown up a revered Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah in Mosul. The residents said that the militants first ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, or Jonah, then blew it up.

The mosque which was renovated in the 1990s under Iraq‘s late dictator Saddam Hussein was built on an archaeological site dating back to the eighth century BC and is said to be the burial place of the prophet, who in stories from both the Bible and Qur’an is swallowed by a whale.

The mosque had remained a popular destination for religious pilgrims from around the world just until before the militants took over the city. It has also been reported that several nearby houses were also damaged by the blast.

The militants have been destroying many sites in Iraq in any area that they have taken over, and have also seized a large area expanding across the Iraq-Syria border.

After 15 years, the Philippines has successfully received inscription for another site to the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Joining the five other UNESCO cultural and natural sites of the Philippines is the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in Davao Oriental, which is noted for its rich biodiversity. It is the first UNESCO heritage site for Mindanao.

However, fear of a new threat seems to be disturbing the preservation of this newly inscribed site. One of the issues the mountain is facing today is biological piracy which is now happening all over the world according to conservation experts. An incident that happened in 2005 reminds scientists that biological samples including plants could be transferred to another part of the world and propagated. In 2005, scientists entered another site in the Philippines and collected species samples. They then propagated and cultured the samples in Europe and that is why the Nepenthes hamiguitanensis is already thriving in Europe today. They’re still naming it as such but it is no longer endemic to the Philippines according to the reports by the officials. That is why today another province has restricted access by foreign scientists to Mt. Matalingahan, another Philippine natural site being considered for UNESCO heritage listing.

Mindanao was cited under Criterion 10 of the heritage list which is supposed to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of universal outstanding value from the point of view of science or conservation. This criterion refers to the rarity of the site. According to the officials in the Philippines, the mountain has many site-endemic flora and fauna species. Nepenthes (pitcher plant) and certain butterfly species can only be found there. It is also home to the Philippine Eagle and Philippine Cockatoo.

The mountain was supposed to be inscribed last year during the World Heritage Convention in Cambodia but it lacked the required Visitors Management Plan. The document was completed and submitted in this year’s convention in Qatar. Owing to its rich biodiversity, access to Mount Hamiguitan is restricted to scientists and researchers. However, another adjacent location will be developed as the buffer zone for tourists to view the mountain from afar as reported by the news outlets.

Late last month (June 2014), the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee added another twenty six new sites to the list of World Heritage Sites bringing the total number to 994.

One of these sites is Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran), meaning ‘Burnt City’ which is located at the junction of Bronze Age trade routes crossing the Iranian plateau.  The remains of the mud brick city represent the emergence of the first complex societies in eastern Iran. Founded around 3200 BC, it was populated during four main periods up to 1800 BC, during which time there developed several distinct areas within the city. These include a monumental area, residential areas, industrial zones and a graveyard. Changes in water courses and climate change led to the eventual abandonment of the city in the early second millennium. The structures, burial grounds and large number of significant artefacts unearthed there, and their well-preserved state due to the dry desert climate, make this site a rich source of information regarding the emergence of complex societies and contacts between them in the third millennium BC.