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Friday, October 31, 2003 The Roman Empires Rises Again In Sand ( 11:48 AM ) Libitina  "I stumbled across this website and was amazed at the beauty of these sand sculptures depicting images of the Roman Empire. The city of Jesolo, Italy sponsors this sand sculpture competition each year with a different theme. I heartily approve of this year’s subject!
# posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 11:48 AM | link
Rome's sea route reopens after 200 years
( 11:30 AM ) Libitina
Thursday, October 30, 2003 Successful Roman Festival Sparks Call For Community Dig ( 9:46 AM ) Libitina MIDDLEWICH Roman Festival has proved to be such a success that the town has developed a vision for a museum and a 'community dig' to retrieve archeological items. Town clerk Jonathan Williams has teamed up with archeologist Tim Strickland to bid for a grant of almost £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. They are hoping that a grant would enable them to carry out further research on Roman Middlewich and look at the potential for a museum. "The grant money could also help to fund a community dig", said Williams, "as this would be a great way to get people involved in searching for Roman artefacts that could eventually be displayed for the whole town to see." # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 9:46 AM | link
Monday, October 27, 2003 Earliest Private Chapel in Roman Villa Unearthed ( 9:31 AM ) Libitina  "The earliest private chapel from Dark Age Britain has been unearthed in the foundations of a Roman 'stately home'.
The fifth century font and baptistry were built into the ornate mosaic floor of an unusual double villa in Wiltshire not long after the Romans left Britain. Although there are older chapels, archaeologists say it is the earliest example of a landowner converting rooms inside his home for baptisms." # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 9:31 AM | link
Verulamium Saved From The Plough
( 9:23 AM ) Libitina
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Large 1st Century Roman Bath House Found In Nazareth ( 1:35 PM ) Libitina "Professor Richard Freund, of the Maurice Greenberg Centre for Judaic Studies at Hartford University in Connecticut, says the discovery means that historians will have to rethink the place and significance of Nazareth in the Roman empire and consequently the formative experiences of Jesus. It has been assumed that the Nazareth of 2,000 years ago was a poor Jewish village on the periphery of the empire, where local families inhabited caves on the hillside that today contains the modern Israeli-Arab city. On this view, the young Jesus would have had little contact with the Romans until he left Nazareth as an adult; his father, Joseph, one of many craftsmen in the town, may have worked on a Roman palace at nearby Sephori. But the huge scale of Shama's bathhouse suggests that Nazareth, rather than Sephori, was the local hub of military control from Rome. The giant bath could only have been built for a Roman city or to service a significant garrison town. That would mean Joseph and Mary, and their son Jesus, would have been living in the very heart of the occupying power. This is likely to have huge significance for New Testament scholars in their understanding of Jesus's later teachings. " # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 1:35 PM | link
Row-powered Roman Cargo Barges Discovered
( 1:27 PM ) Libitina
Dogs In The Roman Empire
( 1:17 PM ) Libitina
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Legions in German Frontier Entertained in Theater ( 2:59 PM ) Libitina "Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Roman theatre in the small German town of Kuenzing, suggesting that soldiers at the front were entertained by gladiators and animal fights. Known as Quintanis in Roman times, the town was on the Danube frontier of the Roman empire and garrisoned by 500 mercenaries." # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 2:59 PM | link
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 Tombs Reveal Ancient Culture in Po Valley ( 1:33 PM ) Libitina  Dating between 1500 and 1200 B.C., a necropolis consisting of more than 2,000 tombs belonging to the people of the "terramare" — prehistoric flat-topped mounds left by a Bronze Age pile-dwelling settlement built on dry land, are being excavated near Modena, Italy.
"It is interesting that the tombs did not contain arms [weapons] but only female objects, mainly bronze items such as brooches and pendants. We found arms gathered in another area of the cemetery. They had been burned and broken, probably in a funerary ritual," project director Andrea Cardarelli, professor of prehistory and proto-history at Modena University said. Despite the precariously preserved cremated bones, Cardarelli has begun an anthropological study which in the following months should reveal not only the sex and age of the buried people but — thanks to specific chemical signals (isotopic values) in bones — their diet. # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 1:33 PM | link
Remains Of Woman Warrior Found
( 1:22 PM ) Libitina
Roman baths threatened by water
( 1:14 PM ) Libitina
Friday, October 10, 2003 Enameled Roman vessel found in Staffordshire Hills ( 11:04 AM ) Libitina  Although this item was posted in January, it only now came to my attention and I admired the artistry of the piece.
An exquisite bronze pan found in the Staffordshire Hills has drawn the attention of experts because it is decorated with Celtic motifs and features an engraved inscription just below the rim. "It lists the four forts at the western end of Hadrian's Wall in sequence: Mais (Bowness), Coggabata (Drumburgh), Uxelodunum (Stanwix), and Cammoglanna (Castlesteads). It also carries a Greek name - 'Aelius Draco'. " "Sally Worrell, of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "Aelius Draco was perhaps a veteran of a garrison of Hadrian's Wall and, on retirement, had this pan made to recall his time in the army. His name suggests that he or his family originated in the Greek-speaking part of the eastern Roman Empire." The pan was probably used like a saucepan. # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 11:04 AM | link
Monday, October 06, 2003 Layers Of Pompeii Dating Back to 3rd Century BC Unearthed ( 3:02 PM ) Libitina  ""After three years of research, the Pompeii that Mount Vesuvius did not bury is coming to light, according to Italian archaeologists.
Hidden in layers beneath the town overwhelmed by lava and ash by the most famous eruption in history, the ancient settlement dates back to the third century B.C. " "With his colleague Filippo Coarelli of Perugia University, Pesando investigated a series of houses in the Regio VI quarter in the northern area of the town, which carried several of those unusual architectural features. " The town that is coming to light is slightly different. It was characterized by steps and narrow streets accessible only with donkeys, while row of smaller houses lined larger streets." "Pompeii was built on steps degrading toward [the] south. This is one of the reasons why the site was originally chosen to build a settlement. Given the town's position, rain water would have flowed down preventing floods," Pesando said." "In the following century, Pompeii slowly turned into the city that visitors admire today. The steps disappeared and new houses were built on top of the old ones, making the town more even and regular. " # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 3:02 PM | link
Roman building found on site of new RAF baseball field
( 11:15 AM ) Libitina
Wednesday, October 01, 2003 Ancient Roman church discovered in Turkey ( 9:23 AM ) Libitina "A church from the era of the ancient Roman Empire (late period) was discovered in the district of Golhisar, in the city of Burdur when a villager from Yusufca stumbled across painted frescos. The director of Burdur Museum Haci Ali Ekinci announced that restoration of this ancient church will begin next year." # posted by Libitina mharrsch@uoregon.edu on 9:23 AM | link
New Method Developed For Dating Archaeological Pottery
( 9:21 AM ) Libitina
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"Riverboats will return to ancient Rome's sea route for the first time in 200 years next week, giving tourists a view from the Tiber river to rival any of the Eternal City's attractions on dry land. The boats will ply a disused route along the green-tinged river from the edge of the city centre to the mosaic-filled ruins of Ostia Antica -- a two-hour trip away from the whizz of scooters and the pilgrims at St Peter's Square in the Vatican."
"Verulamium, a site treasured by archaeologists for years as a unique monument to Roman Britain, is now safe from destruction by the plough, thanks to an important agreement between English Heritage and the local landowner. The agreement, announced on October 22, will ensure that fields covering part of one of the country’s most important archaeological sites, near St.Albans, are taken permanently out of cultivation and converted to permanent pasture. Ancient hedgerows that had been removed to facilitate cultivation will be re-instated. "
"Dutch archaeologists have discovered a Roman cargo ship equipped with oars, a unique find that explains how imperial Rome defended itself on its northern frontiers.
"The Roman empire became a melting pot of dogs from all its conquests. As in ancient Egypt, Roman dogs served in a variety of roles, from companions and guard dogs to vicious fighting dogs pitted against slaves and wild animals.
"Remains Of Xena-Like Woman Found: "The remains of a six-foot tall woman, buried with a shield and knife, were recently discovered in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Lincolnshire, England.
"Emergency work is under way in Somerset after water leaks at Roman baths were found to be destroying an artefact more than 1,700 years old. Stephen Clews, curator of the Roman baths, said: "It may seem odd that water should be a problem for a bath.
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