ARCHAEORAMA

Digging Out Sharks Teeth

You never know what you'll find when you dig.

Amateur paleontologists have discovered that some three million years ago, eel-like sharks snaked through the Chianti, the region that now supports Tuscany's finest vineyards.

Indeed, hundreds of fossilized teeth belonging to primitive shark-like creatures have been uncovered near the village of Castelnuovo Berardenga, not far from Siena.

The teeth turned out to belong to Chlamydoselachus lawleyi, a species which strongly resembles the living frilled shark Chlamydoselachus anguineus.

Along with the Chlamydoselachus shark teeth, the team from the Mineralogy and Paleontology Group of Scandicci unearthed other fossils which included otoliths (ear stones which in fish play a role in hearing and balance) and teeth from other deep-water sharks.

According to Adrienne Mayor, a classical folklorist who authored "The First Fossil Hunters," a book which explores the connection between Greek and Roman myths and the fossil beds around the Mediterranean, “these fossil shark teeth and fish earbones (otoliths) were collected by ancient Romans for medicine--and to neutralize poison assassination attempts.”

Indeed, calcium in fossils can absorb arsenic.

The New Acropolis Museum

One of the oldest international cultural disputes, the battle over the Parthenon Marbles, is taking a new twist as the new Acropolis Museum officially opens tomorrow.

Housed in a striking modern building situated at the foot of the Acropolis, the 130 million-euro ($181 million) museum is Greece’s answer to the British argument that there is nowhere in Greece to house the Marbles. The 17 figures and 56 panels were chiseled off in 1801 by Lord Elgin from a giant frieze that once decorated the Parthenon.

Greece has just rejected an offer from the British Museum to return a section of the Parthenon Marbles on a three-month loan.

Antonis Samaras, the Greek culture minister, said the deal would have meant acknowledging the British Museum as the legal owner.

Race To Preserve The World’s Oldest Submerged Town

Underwater The world's oldest submerged town is about to give up its secrets, according to a statement by the University of Nottingham, UK.

Laying in three to four metres of water off the coast of southern Laconia in Greece, the ancient town of Pavlopetri dates from at least 2800 BC.

A thriving harbour town where the inhabitants conducted local and long distance trade throughout the Mediterranean - its sandy and well-protected bay would have been ideal for beaching Bronze Age ships - Pavlopetri is now at risk from treasure-seeking tourists and boats.

Indeed, the submerged buildings, courtyards, streets, tombs and graves, lie just off a sandy stretch of beach close to an area popular with holiday makers and campers.

Underwater archaeologist Jon Henderson, from the University of Nottingham, will be the first archaeologist to have official access to the site in 40 years.

The survey will be carried out using equipment originally developed for the military and offshore oilfield market.

Henderson's team will carry out a detailed millimeter accurate digital underwater survey of the site using an acoustic scanner. The equipment can produce photo-realistic, three dimensional digital surveys of seabed features and underwater structures to millimetre accuracy in a matter of minutes.

Henderson will publish his research in 2014, following four fieldwork seasons of underwater survey and excavation.

State-Of-The-Art Equipment Installed in Egyptian Tomb

The tomb of Haremhab, in the Valley of the King’s on Luxor’s West Bank, has been reopened today following the installation of state-of-the-art equipment to control the rate of humidity within.

Belonging to Haremhab, the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, the tomb is the first to have such technology installed. The aim is to reduce and control the rate of humidity and heat. This condition has heavily affected the burial’s wall paintings in the past, leading to its original closure.

A scientific team is now monitoring the efficiency of the technology. If all operates successfully, the innovative equipment will be installed in all tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Photo: courtesy of SCA

The Pharaoh of Pop?

Bloggers and Chicago dailies have been heavily covering the striking similarity between an ancient Egyptian bust at the Field Museum and Michael Jackson.

"We really have had many requests to see the bust, both from the media and our visitors," museum curator Jim Phillips told Archaeorama.

The 3,000 year old limestone statue, complete with a partially disintegrated nose and rounded eyes, depicts an unidentified woman.

"This bust was purchased in Egypt in 1899, and belongs to the New Kingdom Period. It has been on display at the Museum since 1988. That is all we know about the piece," Phillips said.

Phillips said it is doubtful that Jackson used the Egyptian statue as a model for his surgically-altered face. Indeed, it is unlikely Jackson ever visited the museum.

Nevertheless, the late pop singer cut a video titled "Remember The Time" which is set against an ancient Egyptian backdrop.

Visitors swear that’s Jacko’s face on the Egyptian bust. Here it is:

Iron Age Butter Discovered in Ireland

Butter sunk under
More than a hundred years
Was recovered salty and white.
The ground itself is kind, black butter

Melting and opening underfoot,
Missing its last definition
By millions of years.

This is Bogland, in the words of Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney.

No words could have been more appropriate for today's news story.

Photos: Colossal Apollo Statue Unearthed In Turkey

A colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, has emerged in southwestern Turkey.

Split in two huge marble fragments, divided along the bust and the lower part of the sculpture, the 1st century A.D. statue was unearthed at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.

Standing at more than four meters (13 feet) in height, the newly discovered statue, which is missing the head and the arms, might have been one of the most impressive sights in the city.

As shown in these pictures, the bust depicts the god wearing a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles. Just click here for the full story.