In a recent study by researchers from Columbia University and West Virginia University and published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, the team concluded with a theory, that the weather might have helped the Mongol army conquer the largest contiguous empire in history.

About eight hundred years ago, Genghis Khan and his sons ruled most of modern-day Russia, China, Korea, southeast Asia, Persia, India, the Middle East and eastern Europe after Mongols ruthlessly conquered all these territories.

Historians for a long time have believed that the Mongols’ fast horses and brilliant cavalry tactics were two of their major advantage, but what other factor could have helped their rapid rise and overcoming so many other territories and countries? Well, the answer could have been climate change or good weather to be exact according to the team of scientists. 

Researchers have been working in Mongolia since 1995 and they have been looking at many ecological factors including tree-rings. Annual rings of many species reflect rainfall or temperature in predictable ways. These can be read like books; and trees in the driest, harshest sites like this are exquisitely sensitive to rain, live to extraordinary ages, and leave trunks that may stand for centuries after they die. In addition, researchers have been looking at grass production, while reasoning that the mild weather could have brought an unusual boom in grass production, and therefore affecting favorably livestock numbers including camels, yaks, cattle, and sheep. So, it looks like that the Mongolian army and Mongol cavalryman had many warhorses and animals for food that could have enabled fighters to travel fast and long.  Researchers are also looking at lake-bottom sediments, soil and all the date will eventually go into a computer modeling program at University of Alabama. 

Researchers also propose that the Mongols could have suffered a climatic setback, too: a cold snap in 1260-1266 and subsequent return to more normal weather in Mongolia appears to coincide with the decline of Karakorum, whose heyday lasted only 30 years. The empire soon fragmented. Today, barely anything of Karakorum remains but a giant stone turtle that once marked one of its corners.

Excerpts from PastHorizonspr.com by permission.  http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/03/2014/rise-of-genghis-khan-linked-to-mongolian-climate-change

Earlier this year, here on WCHV website, we discussed in our blog about a new trend which could gradually become a new trend for funding restoration and preservation of heritage sites (Privatization of Restoration: http://worldculturalheritagevoices.org/?p=3486). This new trend which we called Privatization of Restoration could be a great solution where public funds are not available or are limited.  Just yesterday, Italy’s new Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, called on private companies to fund repairs to the ancient city of Pompeii. The ancient city of Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures. It has been estimated that every year, over two million tourists visit the site in Southern Italy.

Pompeii has been suffering from neglect and inadequate restoration for a while. In fact, BBC and other news networks have reported that last year, 105mil-euro ($145m) was raised (including 41.8m euros from EU) allocated for a “Great Pompeii” rehabilitation project. However, it has been reported that only 588,000 euros had been spent so far. 

Due to heavy rain falls and flooding, several areas including walls and buildings have been damaged just in the last several days, therefore, new measures should be undertaken to reduce damage from flooding.  

Mr. Renzi who became Italy’s prime minister last month made the plea yesterday, to private companies and businesses to step in and help with restoring one of Italy’s greatest treasures.  In fact, the Italian government in the past had also requested private assistance for restoration of other ancient monuments, including the Colosseum in Rome and the Trevi fountain. 

Archaeologists have continued work on a Late Iron Age/Early Roman period necropolis, with a total of 74 graves uncovered, including 31 new inhumations in Central France. As modernization has rapidly changed the area with housing expansions, the outskirts of the historic town of Esvres-sur-Indre  has also been the site for the new findings and study.

The necropolis itself has been known since 1909 after the publication of a preliminary study carried out at the time of the planting of a vineyard. In fact, in 1999 a group of 29 burials were excavated at Vaugrignon.  The graves found at the time were clustered in discreet areas corresponding perhaps to social or family groups and organized around enclosures whose function is not yet clear but may relate to funeral rites.  Archeologists believe that the extent, number and diversity of burials found in the area, show the importance of the site during the late Gallic and Gallo-Roman periods, and the tombs must relate to a substantial settlement that lies beneath the current town and suggests a continuous occupation for over 2200 years.

A very interesting finding was that most of the tombs excavated have contained children. However, since the acidity of the subsoil often does not allow good preservation of organic matter including skeletal material and many of graves were found to be ‘empty’. Twenty four did however contain enough skeletal material to be able to identify 18 children and 6 adults.
The graves frequently contain wooden coffins, of which only the nails are preserved. The dead are accompanied by a rich selection of objects, sometimes mounted on wooden supports arranged within the grave including terracotta pottery including jugs, cups, plates and pots.

Excerpts by permission from original article published by www.pasthorizonspr.com
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/03/2014/new-discoveries-at-the-gallic-necropolis-of-esvres-sur-indre.

Just about a week ago a Spanish team of archeologists working in Egypt in collaboration with the Egyptian antiquities ministry unearthed a 3,600-year-old mummy in the ancient city of Luxor as reported by the Associated Press and Al-Ahram newspaper.

Archeologists believe that this rare find dates back to 1600 BC, when the Pharaonic 17th Dynasty reigned. The sarcophagus which still bears its original coloring and writings was well preserved in wooden sarcophagus. Archeologists also believe that the mummy most probably belong to a high official since the sarcophagus is engraved with titles of the official. The sarcophagus is engraved with hieroglyphs and decorated with inscriptions of birds’ feathers. However, the exact identity that official will have to be studied.

The Spanish-Egyptian team also found two other burials while digging at the Draa Abul-Naga necropolis on Luxor’s west bank, but they were both empty and believed to have been robbed by grave robbers.

About a year ago a team of archeologists from University of Leicester announced that they had discovered beneath an ordinary parking lot in the town of Leicester, bones that believed to belong to King Richard III. Now as reported by several news outlets, researchers at the University of Leicester, have announced that they are planning to sequence the King’s entire genome by using the DNA from his skeleton.

After finding the skeleton, the researchers used several evidences including the fact that the bones showed signs of scoliosis – the king had a hunched back as well as a raised right shoulder. In addition, carbon dating placed the bones somewhere between 1455 and 1540 (Richard died in 1485), and a DNA test showed that the skeleton’s DNA was a perfect match to that of two known descendants. The archeologists believe that King Richard III experienced a very traumatic death since the skeleton showed several wounds including to the head.

Archeologists and geneticist who will be working with the team are hoping that sequencing DNA from the skeleton can reveal more information about the monarch including facial features like eye colors. In addition, researchers can obtain more information about the genetics of the monarch.

Late last month (January 2014), over 3 million USD was pledged to the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) Endowment Fund by the Governments of Kenya (1.5 million USD), South Africa (1 million USD), Algeria (400,000 USD), Chad (100,000 USD), and Namibia (50,000 USD).

In a meeting and luncheon, where fifty four member States of the African Union were in attendance and was hosted by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,  UNESCO joined forces with the African Union Commission to raise awareness and funds (as reported by UNECO). UNESCO highlighted it’s commitment to supporting the AWHF, while other speakers including representatives from the Private Sector acknowledged the central role the AWHF plays in safeguarding heritage in Africa. In addition, all speakers emphasized their wish for more natural and cultural sites in Africa to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the potential and impact of tourism and the economic benefits.

It is important to note that the Endowment Fund still needs 25 million USD in order to render the AWHF independent and fully functional. Therefore, more fundraising is needed to raise the necessary funds. Beside the monetary contributions, Algeria announced the continuation of work by an Algerian specialist with AWHF, as well as the creation of a UNESCO Category II Center in Algeria for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

AWHF was created in 2006 through a joint initiative by the Government of South Africa, the African Union and UNESCO. The organization is an intergovernmental organization based in South Africa whose mission is to assist African countries in many important tasks including: increasing the number of African sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, conserving and managing natural and cultural heritage, rehabilitating sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, training heritage experts and site managers, and ensuring the participation of local communities in decisions concerning their heritage and to ensure that they receive tangible benefits from World Heritage.

Cairo’s Museum of Islamic Art which has been home to almost 100,000 artifacts and priceless key global collections was extensively damaged when a car bomb exploded early Friday (January 24th, 2014) morning. The blast which was outside the Police Security Directorate across the street from the main entrance to the Museum was the first of four that rocked Cairo according to several news agencies.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has expressed grave concern over the damage caused to Museum.

“I firmly condemn this attack and the destruction it has caused to the world-renowned Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, which hosts thousands of invaluable artifacts. This raises the danger of irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people,” Bokova said.

“This heritage is part of the universal story of humanity, shared by all and we must all do everything to safeguard it,” the UNESCO director-general stressed.

It took only 27 million pounds or $44 million to give Britain’s ancient Stonehenge a makeover and the visitors to the site are in for a modern treat.  The renovations include a new timber and glass visitor center building about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the stones where over 1 million a year visitors can watch an exhibition about Neolithic life.
Late last year, in December 2013, journalists and English Heritage members were given a preview of the new center, which houses a 360-degree “virtual tour” of the monument, along with an extensive exhibition about how Stonehenge is believed to have been built about 5,000 years ago. So, what should the tourists and visitors expect when they arrive this year to see the site? The idea has been to return Stonehenge which is located 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, to its rural landscape. Visitors should expect to be transported to the stones on a special shuttle, or they can walk, exploring an ancient processional approach route that for years has been cut in half by asphalt. Inside, the exhibition will show that the monument’s prehistoric creators were sophisticated people, who raised pigs and hunted, gathered from far and wide for feasts and built this remarkable, mysterious monument.

The renovations which were funded partly through donations and partly through a levy on profits of Britain’s national lottery, has also almost doubled the entry ticket, from 8 pounds ($13) to 14.90 pounds ($24) for an adult. However, the visitors beside watching the virtual tour, will see a modern cafeteria and a large gift shop, where visitors can buy many souvenirs including jam, chocolate, baseball caps, mouse pads and fridge magnets, as well as “Stonehenge Rocks” T-shirts as Associated Press reports. It is believed that Stonehenge was built in three phases between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C.

Archaeologists and experts now agree that the site was a temple and a giant burial ground for elite families. Archaeologists have found the remains of dozens of cremated bodies from about 3000 B.C. whose location was marked by bluestones.  More evidence also suggests large crowds gathered at Stonehenge for the summer and winter solstices, a tradition that continues today.  More research and exactions will be done in years to come as more than half the site remains unexcavated.

Photos by Farzad Aryan

According to the reports coming out of Iran and received by WCHV, the Persepolis area is in very poor condition. This area is considered part of the Iran’s World Heritage site and for the last few years, important safeguarding and preservation have not been done for this historical site which is a few thousand years old. Unfortunately, warnings by the activists of Cultural heritage, as well as the Pasargad Heritage Foundation’s reports to the UNESCO have so far not produced any results.

Persepolis was founded by Darius I in 518 B.C., Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It was built on an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, where the king of kings created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. The importance and quality of the monumental ruins make it a unique archaeological site.

UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.