CURRENT EDITION FEATURES:
Inside a Medieval Gaelic Castle
A tiny Irish island holds the secrets of an unknown royal way of life
Remembering the Shark Hunters
Unique burials show how ancient Peruvians celebrated dangerous deep-sea expeditions
Lord of the Oasis
In Egypt’s Western Desert, worship of the mysterious god Seth thrived long after it waned elsewhere
The Founder's Tomb
Frescoes discovered in a Jordanian village narrate the early days of a once-cosmopolitan city on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire
Atomic Age Ghost Fleet
The submerged remains of two massive bomb tests in the Pacific illustrate the potential horrors of nuclear war
3,400-Year-Old Ball Court Found in Mexico’s Highlands
Monday, March 16, 2020
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To promote archaeological inquiry and public understanding of the material record of the human past to foster an appreciation of diverse cultures and our shared humanity.
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MARCH AND APRIL LECTURES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED
MAY 16, 2020
Dr. James P. Delgado, Senior Vice President of SEARCH, INC, will present a lecture about the recent recovery of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring slaves into the United States. its location has long been the subject of great interest to archaeologists.
Medieval Town Walls Uncovered in Wales
Friday, March 13, 2020
CAERNARFON, WALES—According to a report in the North Wales Chronicle, a construction project has uncovered a section of town wall built around Caernarfon Castle in 1283 by King Edward I, who conquered Wales when Llywelyn the Last, the last sovereign Prince of Wales, refused to pay him homage. Matthew Jones of CR Archaeology and his team have found a flight of stairs, fragments of medieval pottery, and what may have been a fireplace or a doorway. “We have unearthed a green wine jug handle, which is Saintonage ware, and is connected with the wine trade from Gascony, France,” he explained. The original town walls were built over in the fourteenth century, when the gate was strengthened against attacks from rebels in the late thirteenth century, and rebuilt after a fire in 1326. “We have maps that show buildings and some records of names of people who lived there but very little evidence of their day to day lives,” he added. To read about the earthen mound of a medieval castle in western Wales that was exposed during a summer 2018 drought, go to "The Marks of Time."
ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE NEWS
WARSAW, POLAND—The First News reports that Andrzej Niwiński of the University of Warsaw and his colleagues discovered a chest containing a sacrificed goose and other artifacts wrapped in linen near the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahari in Upper Egypt. Niwiński said the chest, which measures about 16 inches long and resembles a stone block, bears the name of Thutmose II, who was Hatshepsut’s husband and father of Thutmose III. A goose egg and a possible ibis egg in the chest could refer to his name and titles, Niwiński added. “The royal deposit indicates that a temple was established on behalf of the king, or that a king’s tomb was founded,” Niwiński explained. “Since we are in the very center of the royal cemetery, it is certainly a tomb. Finding this deposit indicates that we are in the process of discovering the tomb.” To read about Egyptian colonization of Canaan under Thutmose III, go to "Egypt's Final Redoubt in Canaan."
WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a Science News report, Jeffrey Blomster and Victor Salazar Chávez of George Washington University and their colleagues have found a ball court estimated to be 3,400 years old at the site of Etlatongo in the mountains of southern Mexico, pushing back the arrival of the game in the highlands by about 800 years. It had been previously thought that the game originated in settlements located on the Gulf Coast and the Pacific lowlands. Found underneath a larger ball court built around 1200 B.C., the court covered an area of about 1,500 square yards and featured stone walls and benches. Charred animal bones, plant remains, human bones, and pieces of ceramic ballplayer figurines suggest it had been burned when it was taken out of use. “Multiple regions and societies were involved in developing a blueprint for the ball court used in a formal ball game across Mesoamerica,” Blomster said, although how the ball game was first played remains unknown. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances. To read about an ancient Peruvian ritual game, go to "Bringing Back Moche Badminton."
Our FREE LECTURES are held on a Saturday at 12:00 pm in building 51 (Social Sciences) on the University of North Florida campus in Jacksonville.
THIS SEASON'S LECTURES
Excavations at Etlatongo in southern Mexico probed beneath surface remains of a Spanish hacienda’s threshing floor (shown) to reveal two ancient ball courts, built atop each other.
FORMATIVE ETLATONGO PROJECT
Are Egyptologists Close to Finding a Pharaoh’s Intact Tomb?
Friday, March 13, 2020
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE of AMERICA - Jacksonville Society