Results tagged “Archaeology”

Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old Sicilian girl who died of pneumonia in 1920. "Sleeping Beauty," as she's known, appears to be merely dozing beneath the glass front of her coffin in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy.

Can you believe this little beauty died and was buried in 1920? It's amazing!

Now an Italian biological anthropologist, Dario Piombino-Mascali of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, has discovered the secret formula that preserved Rosalia's body so well.

If you are interested in looking this good 88 years after you are buried, check out the rest of the article!

Art has long been the way for people to express themselves as evidenced by the art found in The Cave of Lascaux. People are driven to draw the world around them. Whether it is for posterity or just for fun or to record a hunt or other important event, they draw. And fortunately we have found drawings from the past that give us insight to the people who made them and the times they lived in.

Recently, Aborginal Rock Art has been discovered in Australia that may revise the Australian History Books. In years past it has been believed the Aborginies were relatively isolated, but this recent discovery shows that they have had contact with others throughout the millenium.

Enjoy more pictures at National Geographic.

Ever since I was a youngster, I was fascinated with history and with those that had gone before. Egyptians, Mayans, Aztecs, Incans. Those ancient civilizations that had accomplished so much with such primitive tools. The pyramids and ziggurats. The ancient calendars. The discovery of chocolate (hey, that alone is amazing!)

And my fascination lives on which is why I keep track of new discoveries via National Geographic.

Today, I watched a video about Ancient Temples that were found in Peru. These buildings are in amazing condition. This is not just a historically significant find, but one for architects to take note of as well. And the other amazing thing is how such magnificent structures have remained hidden from us for so long. Only the Lord knows what other interesting finds are waiting for us to find here on earth, below the land and the sea.

Imagine...going underwater to see the remains of the sunken palace of Cleopatra or the Lighthouse of Alexandria. As the earth has shifted through the ages and earthquakes have caused land to be lowered and raised, some amazing treasures have fallen into the water.

The bay is filled archaeological sunken treasures. In the 1990s archaeologist-divers found thousands of objects: 26 sphinxes, statues bearing gifts to the gods, blocks weighing up to 56 tons, and even Roman and Greek shipwrecks.

A committee has been set up to discuss the feasibility of creating an underwater museum which will enable visitors to more truly experience the palace and lighthouse the way they were.

For more information on the proceedings, click here.

For more cool photos, click here.

Check out this cool night shot of Stonehenge...I wonder how many times this site has been photographed.

This photo accompanies a story from National Geographic about the fact that partiers came from near and far to feast at Stonehenge.

Peru archaeologists have found what may have been a pre-Inca pregnant woman sacrificed for an important religious event. It is highly unusual to sacrifice pregnant women.

Village of Twins Is a MysteryA small village in India has about a hundred pairs of twins, mostly same sex and 90 percent born in the last 20 years. No one can explain the phenomenon.

Does anyone but me see a problem with this helmet?

A gold-bedecked warrior helmet and gold mask (pictured)—among other treasures—have been unearthed at an ancient cemetery near Alexander the Great's birthplace in what is now northern Greece.

If I remember correctly, no one knows the burial site of Alexander the Great. Wouldn't it be something if he was found among these graves?

I know it has been a while since I have shared any interesting National Geographic Headlines. I am trying to get back in the swing of it because I enjoy reading and sharing the interesting stories. I recently restarted up my RSS feed (after the great computer wipe in August) and there has been a lot going on this week, so without further ado....

Giant Underground Fossil Forests Show Record of Warming - this story is very interesting. Not only is it neat to think that in the past there have been 40 foot tall trees in Illinois, but it is giving scientists an opportunity to use our past to learn about our present and give us insight into our future. These finds also serve to remind us that global warming has gone on before.

Worst Case: Collider Spawns Planet-Devouring Black Hole - Now most of you have heard about the firing up of the Hadron Collider this past week that scientists are very excited about and hope to gain insight about the way our universe works from what happens with the experiement. Fortunately, no black holes have appeared yet (and wondering if anyone would actually tell us if they did....)

And as if that is cool enough for you, check out this video...scientists rapping about the Hadron Collider.

I have long been fascinated with the legend of Bigfoot (I prefer the name Sasquatch). I remember back in the 70s seeing video of Bigfoot. It never seemed a stretch for me to beleive that in the wilder areas, such a creature could exist.

Well, now some Bigfoot hunters from Georgia have killed one and will be releasing more information about it today! This is one for the record books folks and if all pans out, will have scientists scrambling!

My friend, Carole, sent me this interesting link about an archaeological find in the Sahara and I wanted to share.

It's amazing to me when we go back through history and realize how different our planet has been from the way we perceive it now.

I just found out about a brand new blog called Stone and Bone. It looks like it will be great to follow if you are an archaeology fan like I am! Check it out!

Stonehenge is magnificent in appearance and steeped in mystery. But maybe, just maybe, an answer has been found. The blocks, may be tombstones, memorials to the dead.

According to National Geographic:

Newly dated human remains unearthed at the megalithic circle in southern England reveal Stonehenge was a place of burial from its earliest beginnings some 5,000 years ago, said Mike Parker Pearson, who leads the Stonehenge Riverside Project.

And if you watch this video, you will learn about other amazing discoveries at Stonehenge.

Isn't it amazing what can be found when digging in the ground?

A patch of prehistoric hair suggests that the first Eskimos in the New World did not descend from Native Americans as previously thought but came directly from Asia.

Previously, there were two main theories to explain the ancestry of the first Eskimos in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, Gilbert said.

The new research, which appears tomorrow in the journal Science, suggests that the original Paleo-Eskimos of the New World were replaced by later colonizers, who spread eastward from Siberia.

You just never know what question someone's hair may hold the answer to!

Check out this artist's rendering of a prehistoric bird that is believed to forage on the ground like many modern day birds. While the bird is thought to have stood 16 feet tall (which is scary enough - I mean I don't want to meet a 16 foot tall carnivorous bird, do you?), the artist may have been a bit overzealous...see the hills behind the birds? Anyway, it's interesting stuff!

This is so very cool! Check out the video and story of the remains of the world's oldest known mother which have been unearthed in the Australian outback. I am not sure how they can tell all of that from the bit of bone they have, but they say the specimen is in 3-D and gives them lots of information.

In the first underwater survey of the Nile, archaeologists are locating treasures that before they had only assumed they would be able to locate. It has long been suspected that that due to shifts in the Nile's course over the centuries and due to shipping accidents up and down the Nile that artifacts were just waiting to be discovered.

Below is a picture of a one ton rock found and retrieved from the entryway that once led to the temple of the ram-headed fertility god Khnum, experts say. This stone has inscriptions that could date from the 22nd dynasty (945-712 B.C.) to 26th dynasty (664-525 B.C.).

Who knows what other treasures lie beneath the surface of the Nile...waiting to be discovered.

Last week, to coincide with the opening of the new Indiana Jones movie, a story was released about a 60 year old archaeologist who is known worldwide for his trademark Indiana Jones hat. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, believes he has found the tomb of Cleopatra and hopes that MarK Antony may be buried at her side. They have discovered a bust of Mark Antony and tunnels filled with statues and coins depicting Cleopatra. Wouldn't it be cool to find these famous lovers?

As we finished up the first year of History of the World last month, we read the stories of Caesar and Mark Antony and Cleopatra. It is so exciting to read that more may be known about them soon. Unfortunately, excavations had to stop until next November due to the heat. I can't wait to see what they will find!

National Geographic reporting:

A marble bust of an aging Julius Caesar—which may date back to 46 B.C.—has been found by divers in the Rhône River in southern France, officials say. The life-size sculpture (shown in a photo released this week) is etched with deep wrinkles and a balding pate.

The bust may be the oldest known representation of the famous Roman leader. Most known ancient sculptures of Caesar were created after his death.

This was not the only statue found and the others span time as to when they were created. Archaeologists are unsure of why these statues were dumped into the Rhone River...

Cool find though!

While I wouldn't be able to understand or read this scroll, I would love to see it in person. What an amazing piece of history...a copy of the Book of Isaiah written about 1900 years ago!

You can see a video of the scroll here

I am more than a bit behind with my National Geographic feed reading. So I am going to make a big post linking to some of the stories that interested me the most from the past couple of weeks. Hopefully you will find something here that interests you as well!

"Extinct" Plants Discovered Blooming in Australia - these plants haven't been seen since 1891 and were listed as extinct in 1922.

VIDEO: Terra-Cotta Army Coming to U.S. - This would be very neat to see!

Colossal Squid Thawing; Hints at Even Bigger Beasts A Colossal Squid that was accidentally captured February 2007 is revealing answers to the scientists in charge of thawing it and studying it.