Archaeology

"It has been mired in controversy since its rediscovery in August 1742 and with each new generation, a new controversy is generated. The current controversy is over its alleged links with the Knights Templar (more correctly, the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon), a medieval religious order suppressed in 1312 and currently a focus of one of the most widely believed conspiracy theories of our times: the “bloodline of Christ”." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

"So why has the standard interpretation of the carvings settled around the idea that they were created by the Knights Templar? [...]They appear to be wearing plate armour, which would date them to the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, too late for the Templars. Moreover, the distinctive Templar symbol of two knights on horseback, intended to show that their self-imposed poverty forced them to share horses, is completely absent from the cave." - Mark H

"'[t]unnels were discovered under Hertford Castle in 2004 and have been attributed to the Templars, which connect the dungeons at Hertford Castle with the County Hall and other locations’. This was remarkably prescient of the Templars: during their brief imprisonment at the Castle, they were able to build tunnels linking their prison with a building that was not to be erected for another 630 years! County Hall was built in 1939." - Mark H

"'If a discovery confirms your pre-held religious beliefs, then it’s wishful thinking at best and even more likely to be a fraud'. As a principle, I think it’s a good one. But it’s one I have rarely, if ever, encountered in so-called “Biblical Archaeology”, which is a sub-discipline that is characterised by a distinct lack of sceptical thinking. Why is that? Let’s answer that by looking at some recent claims: the “Jesus family tomb”, the “lead codices” from Jordan and the interminable searches for “Noah’s Ark”." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

"A stone altar from the 9th century BCE was found in an archeological dig on Tel Tzafit, a site identified with the biblical Philistine city of Gat. The altar is reminiscent of Jewish altars from the same period and sheds light on the cultural links between the two peoples, who fought each other for centuries." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

Made from a Jewish altar. Probably payback for that foreskin stealing incident. - Eivind

"It is not as dramatic as the collapse of an ancient Egyptian dynasty, but the abrupt fall of Zahi Hawass is sending ripples around the planet. The archaeologist who has been in charge of Egypt’s antiquities for nearly a decade has been abruptly sacked in an overhaul of the country’s cabinet." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

I've never liked him. He always came across as arrogant. - Mark H

"The oldest buildings in Europe are found in Malta - older than the Pyramids of Egypt. The occupation and settlement of Malta by modern humans began approximately 7,000 years ago, when the first Neolithic Farmers crossed the 50 mile-wide straits that separate the islands from Sicily. Prior to that, the islands were uninhabited. The undomesticated animals, at the beginning of the Holocene [12-10,000 years ago] would have been red deer, bear, fox and wolf." - Mark H from Bookmarklet

One of the most gorgeous woman I ever saw abroad was from MALTA. I too desire to experience this place. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg from Android

The finding, which will be described in the Journal of Archaeological Science, marks the first time that any Stone Age site has yielded evidence for ochre powder processing on cemented hearths -- an innovation for the period. - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

"even when the film-maker makes bloopers, like asserting that Indy learned Aymara (or was it Quechua?) while riding with Pancho Villa, they blame the filmmaker and point out that Indy really really rode with Hiram Bingham." - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

"So it's Stoke-on-Trent which will get the tourism, publicity and economic benefits, while Walsall will get nothing, and local people who want to see their heritage will have to go to Birmingham or trek to Stoke-on-Trent. It's appalling. Never before have so many citizens of Walsall been so badly let down by so few." - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

I was going to add them here, but that would have swamped the feed. - Alun Salt

"Our ancestors responded to environmental changes, such as climate shift, with mutations that increased their chances of survival. But today, these same mutations predispose us toward complex diseases such as cancer..." - Mats Halldin from Bookmarklet

I know the owner isn't going to have felt anything, but dredging up a bit of a skull does something to me. It's a similar feeling to finding half a caterpillar in your salad. - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

It's the Battle of the Teutoberg forest which is one of the pivotal points in Roman history. It's also a good excuse for pointing towards Adrian Murdoch's weblog where he's been posting on the subject this year. http://bit.ly/tIoXB - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

The best episode of Time Team ever. Narrowly beats out the episode in Cheddar Gorge where they didn't find anything. - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

An article on the problems of deciphering scripts when you have no clues, and may not even know the language that it records. - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet

The belief that it's Raedwald who was buried at Sutton Hoo continues to be challenged and defended. It's an argument of whether or not the burial is Christian, based on the grave goods. - Alun Salt from Bookmarklet