Month: March 2008

Area man finds superrare Roman gold coins

Ancient, Roma, Caput Mundi, Treasures

The area is Derbyshire, England, and the coins are so rare that one of them is entirely unclassified and the other kind hasn’t been seen since 1975. Rare Roman gold coins unearthed in Derbyshire.

The museum’s Sam Moorhead, an expert in Roman antiquities, said: “These are the two most stunning coins I have ever seen and I have looked at over 30,000.

“Ethically, I am not allowed to put a valuation on them but I reckon they are priceless.”

This is the best picture I could find, I’m sad to say:


I want to see them in all their golden glory, but the Derbyshire paper must have a dial-up readership or something, ’cause their pictures are loooow res.

Iran and Italy sitting in a tree

Ancient, Social policy

Iran and Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will allow closer cooperation between Italian and Iranian archaeologists in the excavations of Burnt City.

The head of the Italian team working on Iran’s Burnt City project, Lorenzo Costantini, noted that different phases of excavations in the Burnt City have revealed the competence of people of the city in different sciences and crafts.

Located 57 km from the city of Zabol in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeast Iran, Burnt City is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Iran which thrived during the third millennium BC.

All kinds of amazing things have been found in Burnt City, from delicately painted, 5000 year-old artificial eyeballs to the earliest known backgammon set (turquoise and agate pieces on an ebony board).

Augustan temple digitally reconstructed

Ancient, Multimedia, Roma, Caput Mundi

This is what the Temple of Apollo, built by Augustus Caesar in 28 B.C., looks like now:

There’s so little of it left that reconstructing its former structure has been a challenge for archaeologists. University of Pennsylvania graduate student Stephan Zink spent two years on the Palatine examining the plinth foundations (those huge chunks of brown concrete in the middle) and the cross-sections of columns that remain.

Combining his own work with other measurements taken in the 50’s and 60’s, he’s been able to digitally reconstruct what the temple might have looked like back when it was brand new and 10 stories high.

More subway archaeology

Ancient, Treasures

In Thessaloniki, Greece, this time.

Subway workers uncovered about a thousand graves, ranging in age from the first century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., and from simple wooden box burials to elaborate marble family mausoleums. Archaelogists have also found coins, jewelry and artwork in the graves.

The subway dig is scheduled to be completed by 2012. Much like the Roman subway dig, the Greek excavations are bound to turn up more archaeological discoveries.

New museum at Gettysburg

Modern(ish), Museums

The old one was small, run down, and oh yeah, built in the middle of the actual battlefield in the 20’s. They’re razing it and restoring the whole battlefield to its Civil War topography.

The new one is 3/4 miles away from the battlefield, has 24,000 square feet of exhibition space, a fully renovated “Battle of Gettysburg” cyclorama, complete with its dioramas for the first time in half a century, and an all-new “Refreshment Saloon” where visitors can experience Civil War-era foods and original recipes.

(Virginia ham and apple pie, apparently. I call that kowtowing. Weevily hardtack and salt pork would have been so much cooler.)

The new digs open on April 14, with a grand opening in September 26 to launch the cyclorama. Read all about it on the Gettysburg National Military Park’s website.