DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE—Reno, NV (May 14, 2018): To learn about the rise and fall of ancient European civilizations, researchers sometimes find clues in unlikely places: deep inside of the Greenland ice sheet, for example.
Thousands of years ago, during the height of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, lead emissions from sources such as the mining and smelting of lead-silver ores in Europe drifted with the winds over the ocean to Greenland – a distance of more than 2800 miles (4600 km) – and settled onto the ice. Year after year, as fallen snow added layers to the ice sheet, lead emissions were captured along with dust and other airborne particles, and became part of the ice-core record that scientists use today to learn about conditions of the past.
In a new study published in PNAS, a team of scientists, archaeologists and economists from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the University of Oxford, NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research and the University of Copenhagen used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) to measure, date and analyze European lead emissions that were captured in Greenland ice between 1100 BC and AD 800. Their results provide new insight for historians about how European civilizations and their economies fared over time.
Read more:
https://popular-archaeology.com/article/lead-pollution-in-greenland-ice-shows-rise-and-fall-of-ancient-european-civilizations/

Archaeologists working on a site on a private property in the centre of Bulgaria’s second city Plovdiv have found a stone with an inscription praising Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was in power from 284 to 305 CE.
In unofficial translation, the inscription reads: “To our master, the most devout Gaius Valerius Diocletianus, a happy, invincible Augustus. Dedicated by the sublime Emilius Alexander, governor of the province of Thrace, devoted to his divinity”.
Archaeologist Elena Bozhinova of Plovdiv’s Regional Archaeological Museum told local media that the inscription had been on a massive block, “probably a pedestal of a very large statue, perhaps the emperor on a horse”.
In time, however, this act of brown-nosing the imperial boss would have a less splendid place. In mediaeval times, the stone was recycled to be used as a part of a wall. Sic transit gloria mundi, and all that.
Emilius Alexander was rather keen on letting various emperors know how enthusiastic he was about them. Other inscriptions dedicated to emperors have been found at the Augusta Trayana site in Stara Zagora, and in the early 20th century, at the village of Voden.
Emperor Diocletian was born, in humble circumstances, in the year 244 in Salona, in what today is Croatia. As emperor, he conducted a number of successful military campaigns, though two of his campaigns were doomed to failure – one, an edict against inflation, the other, a notoriously brutal campaign from 303 to 311 against Christians. Thirteen years after Diocletian’s death, one of his successors, Constantine, became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Not only that, Diocletian’s mausoleum was converted into a Christian church, the cathedral of St Domnius, which still stands today in the Croatian city of Split.
Diocletian abdicated in 305, on the grounds of ill-health, and retired to his native Dalmatia. He died at the age of 66 in Aspalathos, today’s Split
Archaeologists working on a site on a private property in the centre of Bulgaria’s second city Plovdiv have found a stone with an inscription praising Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was in power from 284 to 305 CE.
In unofficial translation, the inscription reads: “To our master, the most devout Gaius Valerius Diocletianus, a happy, invincible Augustus. Dedicated by the sublime Emilius Alexander, governor of the province of Thrace, devoted to his divinity”.
Archaeologist Elena Bozhinova of Plovdiv’s Regional Archaeological Museum told local media that the inscription had been on a massive block, “probably a pedestal of a very large statue, perhaps the emperor on a horse”.
In time, however, this act of brown-nosing the imperial boss would have a less splendid place. In mediaeval times, the stone was recycled to be used as a part of a wall. Sic transit gloria mundi, and all that.
Emilius Alexander was rather keen on letting various emperors know how enthusiastic he was about them. Other inscriptions dedicated to emperors have been found at the Augusta Trayana site in Stara Zagora, and in the early 20th century, at the village of Voden.
Emperor Diocletian was born, in humble circumstances, in the year 244 in Salona, in what today is Croatia. As emperor, he conducted a number of successful military campaigns, though two of his campaigns were doomed to failure – one, an edict against inflation, the other, a notoriously brutal campaign from 303 to 311 against Christians. Thirteen years after Diocletian’s death, one of his successors, Constantine, became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Not only that, Diocletian’s mausoleum was converted into a Christian church, the cathedral of St Domnius, which still stands today in the Croatian city of Split.
Diocletian abdicated in 305, on the grounds of ill-health, and retired to his native Dalmatia. He died at the age of 66 in Aspalathos, today’s Split

Hidden writing on fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been discovered by researchers using advanced imaging technology originally developed for NASA.
The pieces of manuscript, many of which appear blank to the naked eye, are being analysed for the first time since they were unearthed by archaeologists in the 1950s.

One fragment had letters written in an ancient Hebrew script which could belong to an unknown text. Others have been matched to the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, a section of the Great Psalms Scroll containing Psalm 147, and a text in the Temple Scroll giving instructions for how to conduct services.

The fragments, roughly around 1.5cm by 1cm in size, were presented during an international conference held in Jerusalem to mark the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the scrolls.

“Usually scholars are dealing with Dead Sea Scrolls materials after they’ve been cleaned and treated. These fragments were never cleaned and treated,” said Oren Ableman, a researcher at the Dead Sea Scrolls Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Using an infrared microscope connected to a computer, he sifted through a box of fragments recovered from Cave 11 in 1956.
“With the very first fragment, I saw a letter and knew there was something there. That was the initial moment of excitement,” Mr Ableman said.
The fragments were then photographed using multispectral imaging as part of the decade-long project to digitise the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Mr Ableman believes one piece with paleo-Hebrew writing dates back to the late Second Temple period.

“What was exciting about this particular fragment is that I could tell that the handwriting was not identical to other fragments of this type of script,” he said.
“That leads me to believe we are dealing with a manuscript that we didn’t know about.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1946 in caves at Wadi Qumran in the West Bank.
In February last year archaeologists discovered a new cave containing potter, broken scroll storage jars and one blank parchment
independent.uk

World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated on May 01, 2018. 2018 is an important transition year in the history of World Migratory Bird Day – unifying the planet’s major migratory bird corridors, or flyways: the African-Eurasian flyway, the East Asian-Australasian flyway, and the Americas flyways. Celebrated from now on twice a year, on the Second Saturday in May and in October, WMBD aims to reach out to a broader audience and amplify its message for bird conservation. As a new global platform that unifies efforts worldwide, WMBD will be reinforcing education and awareness-raising about the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats – at all different levels, in all parts of the world.

Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War, 8-9 May 2018. By resolution 59/26 of 22 November 2004, the UN General Assembly declared 8–9 May as a time of remembrance and reconciliation and, while recognizing that Member States may have individual days of victory, liberation and commemoration, invited all Member States, organizations of the United Nations System, non-governmental organizations and individuals to observe annually either one or both of these days in an appropriate manner to pay tribute to all victims of the Second World War.

The Assembly stressed that this historic event established the conditions for the creation of the United Nations, designed to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and called upon the Member States of the United Nations to unite their efforts in dealing with new challenges and threats, with the United Nations playing a central role, and to make every effort to settle all disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and in such a manner that international peace and security are not endangered.

Archaeologists in the city of Kyustendil in Western Bulgaria have unearthed a Late Antiquity / Late Roman building which is believed to have been the residence of the Early Christian bishop of the large Ancient Roman city of Pautalia.

The predecessor of today’s Bulgarian city of Kyustendil, Pautalia, originally an Ancient Thracian settlement known for its mineral water springs, was an important Roman, and then Early Byzantine city.

In the Middle Ages, during the First Bulgarian Empire (632/680 – 1018) and Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396/1422), it was also a major city.

While Roman Era Pautalia had a much larger fortified area, in the Early Byzantine period, a smaller fortress was constructed on the Hisarlaka Hill towering above what is today Kyustendil (the Pautalia – Hisarlaka – Velbazhd Fortress).

Pautalia was initially part of the Roman province of Thracia (Thrace) but after the administrative reform it became part of the province of Dacia Mediterranea, and was the third largest city in it, after Serdica (today’s Bulgarian capital Sofia) and Naissus (today’s Nis in Serbia).

The large building which is believed to have been the residence of the Early Christian bishop of Pautalia has been discovered during rescue excavations near Kyustendil’s Art Gallery “Vladimir Dimitrov Maystora”, the Bulgarian National Television reports.

See more:  Archaeology in Bulgaria

A collaboration between Google and an Oakland, California-based nonprofit called CyArk titled “The Open Heritage Project” is offering a new opportunity to anyone with a web connection or a virtual reality headset to visit and explore some of the world’s most celebrated heritage sites without leaving home. The researchers also believe that the project will also help preserve site records or even aid in reconstruction if they undergo future damage.

The Open Heritage Project has now published online their realistic 3D models of 26 heritage locations in 18 countries, including the 1,000-year-old Temple of Kukulcan in the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico as well as parts of the Roman city of Pompeii, buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D and the Native American cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in southern Colorado.

 The CyArk CEO John Ristevski explained in an interview published online by a number of news outlets that Google approached the non-profit organization about opening up their archives to a much broader audience, and that was what they had been wanting to do for a long time.  In fact, the 26 locations are a fraction of more than 200 heritage sites that CyArk has documented around the world since 2003, using digital photography, aerial drones, and a 3D laser scanning technology known as LIDAR (for light detection and ranging).  Detailed 3D models of the unique buildings and ancient artifacts, maps, and high-resolution 360-degree photographs from the 26 locations can be viewed directly on the Open Heritage website with just a web browser, thanks to a new VR interface developed by Google for the project. However if you have a VR headsets you can immerse yourself in a (3D) realistic wrap-around view.

The project’s list of the heritage sites range from ancient wonders, like Pompeii and Chichén Itzá, to relatively modern heritage sites like the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, built in the 18th century.  CyArk is now planning to add nine more locations, including the Washington Monument and the World War I battleground at Flanders Fields in Belgium, in the next few months with many more to be added to their list.  CyARK recognizes that many of the locations in the Open Heritage project is hard to visit in person, because of their remoteness or because authorities limit access to them. One of the least accessible is Chavín de Huántar, a pre-Inca religious site in north-central Peru that is situated at an elevation of almost 4,000 meters [13,000 feet]. Reaching the site requires a 10-hour bus ride from Lima and as a result not too many tourists visit the site.

While the Open Heritage website makes it easier for people to experience heritage sites in virtual reality, CyArk got its start 15 years ago with a different goal and that was to make a permanent record of ancient locations that are under threat from natural events or desecration.  CyArk’s founder, Ben Kacyra, who is an expatriate Iraqi engineer living in California, learned of the destruction of Afghanistan’s 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001, and decided that he wanted to create three-dimensional digital records of the world’s heritage sites in case they were damaged or destroyed.  It is quite obvious that Kacyra’s foresight has now paid off and many people around the world can benefit from it by being able to see these beautiful heritage sites from thousands of miles away using the internet. 

In addition, these records are helping researchers in reconstructing heritage sites which have been damaged. CyArk’s detailed digital records are now being used in reconstruction work at Bagan, and virtual reality versions of the Bagan temples can be seen on the Open Heritage website.

A mummified body found near a shrine in Tehran could be of the early 20th-century Iranian monarch Reza Shah, a polarising figure whose reappearance would be problematic for the country’s present Islamic leaders.
Local media have published conflicting reports about this week’s discovery at Abdol-Azim shrine, close to a former royal mausoleum south of the capital where the shah had been buried.
Conservative news agencies sympathetic to the leadership rejected suggestions that the remains were of the former ruler, but many believe the denials may be linked to fears of royalist nostalgia taking hold at a time when the Islamic Republic is struggling to defend its achievements since the revolution.
The mausoleum was destroyed after the 1979 revolution, which deposed the Pahlavi dynasty, when an extremist cleric led a group who climbed its tower and destroyed it in a rampage using pneumatic drills. The cleric, Sadegh Khalkhali, later known as the “hanging judge” due to his infamous killings, expressed regret in his memoir that he was unable to find Reza Shah’s body.
It is still not clear if the mummified body is that of Reza Shah, but the location of the discovery and the resemblance between an image of the mummy and a photograph of Reza Shah before his burial have given credence to the claim.
Chants in support of Reza Shah, not heard for decades, featured strongly in weeks of unrest across Iran earlier this year, demonstrating the extent of public discontent about the state of the country under the ayatollahs.
“Reza Shah, bless your soul,” people chanted during protests over economic grievances that took on a political dimension as they spread to as many as 80 cities.