DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Newly discovered 3,300-year-old shipwreck ‘changes the understanding’ of sailing in ancient world
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A 3,300-year-old ship has been discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, making it one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered and rewriting our understanding of sailing in the ancient world, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The vessel is estimated to be from the 13th or 14th century BCE, the authority said in a statement. Emil Eljam/Israel Antiquities AuthorityDuring the survey, an “unusual sight of what seemed to be a large cluster of urns” was discovered, Bahartan said. “This is the first and earliest shipwreck discovered to date in the deep sea in the eastern Mediterranean,” he said. “The ship that has just been discovered changes the understanding of sailing in the ancient world,” Sharvit said.

Persons: Karnit Bahartan, Emil Eljam, Bahartan, Energean, Jay, Jeanie, Yaakov Sharvit, ”, Sharvit, ” Sharvit Organizations: CNN, Israel Antiquities Authority, Authority, Campus, Maritime Archeology Unit Locations: London, Israel, Jerusalem

☆ Satellite imagery may provide missing puzzle piece in Easter Island saga
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Hundreds of monumental stone heads dot the coastline of the remote Pacific island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. Terry HuntThe rock gardens had covered up to 21.1 square kilometers (8.1 square miles) and could have sustained up to 17,000 people, previous research suggested. Archaeologists have identified the remains of rock gardens on which islanders would have grown sweet potatoes and other crops. “This finding was the result of integrating new remotely sensed data, data not available when we did our original study.” He wasn’t involved in the new research. In fact, when Europeans first make contact with Rapa Nui people, they only report seeing maybe 3,000 or 4,000 people and report that people were in good spirits,” Davis said.

Persons: Jared Diamond, ”, Dylan Davis, Davis, School’s Lamont, Terry Hunt, ” Davis, Rapa, ” Ladefoged, wasn’t, Christopher Stevenson, ” Stevenson, Carl Lipo, What’s Organizations: CNN, Columbia, Observatory, New Zealand’s University of Auckland, School of, Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University Locations: Rapa Nui, Rapa, Chile, Pitcairn, Washington

☆ Museum Calls Off Kehinde Wiley Show, Citing Assault Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Alex Marshall | Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Minneapolis Institute of Art announced Thursday that it had decided not to move forward with a planned Kehinde Wiley exhibition, citing recent allegations of sexual misconduct against the artist, which he has denied. The exhibition, called “An Archaeology of Silence,” originated at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and has been traveling around the country. The Minneapolis museum put plans to stage the exhibition on hold after several men made accusations against Mr. Wiley, all of which he has denied. The first was in May, when an artist accused him of sexual assault in a post on Instagram. Mr. Wiley denied the allegations at the time, saying that “these claims are not true and are an affront to all victims of sexual abuse.”The Minneapolis Institute of Art said in an email that it “was considering taking the Kehinde Wiley exhibition, but as a result of these unfortunate allegations we will not be proceeding with this presentation.”

Persons: ”, Wiley, “ Organizations: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Wiley, Fine Arts Locations: San Francisco, Minneapolis

☆ Who were the victims of Maya sacrifice? Ancient DNA reveals an unexpected finding
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But the impact of ancient DNA, which has revolutionized archaeology in Europe and higher latitudes, has been more limited in tropical areas because DNA degrades more easily in warm conditions. However, recent advances in ancient DNA technology are expanding its reach, she said. And suddenly, we now have the ability to do these large-scale genomic studies and apply ancient DNA as a tool to help us understand the past in Mesoamerica,” Warinner said. The team compared the ancient DNA with that of 68 residents of the present-day Maya community of Tixcacaltuyub. “They were super happy to learn that they were related to the people that once inhabited Chichén Itzá,” Barquera said.

Persons: ”, Rodrigo Barquera, Max Planck, “, El, Chichén Itzá, Donald Miralle, Rubén Mendoza, wasn’t, Christina Warinner, John L, Loeb, “ We’re, ” Warinner, Vera Tiesler, Tiesler, Johannes Krause, Warinner, It’s, ” Barquera, Ermila Organizations: CNN, Max, Max Planck Institute, California State University, telltale, Social Sciences, Harvard University, Evolutionary, Boys, Autonomous University of Yucatán, ” Twins, Twins Locations: Chichén, Mexico’s Yucatán, archaeogenetics, Leipzig, Germany, El Castillo, Monterey Bay, Europe, Itzá, Tixcacaltuyub

☆ Ramesses II’s lost sarcophagus was hiding in plain sight, research suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Tucked away in the cartouche, an oval-shaped ornament often found in tombs, he found a name of a very recognizable figure: Ramesses II. “The cartouche dates back to its first usage, and contains Ramesses II’s throne name, Usermaatra. Psusennes I reused this sarcophagus that once belonged to Merneptah, the son and successor of Ramesses II. Both sarcophagi would have been inside an even larger stone sarcophagus, the source of the granite fragment Payraudeau discovered. “This also tells us when pharaohs began using more than one stone sarcophagus,” Payraudeau added.

Persons: Menkheperrê, Frédéric, Ramesses, Payraudeau, ” Payraudeau, Ramesses II, —, he’s, Psusennes, Ramesses II’s, Ramesses I, Joann Fletcher, Ramesses ’, ” Fletcher, Jean Revez, “, Merneptah, Seti I’s, Peter Brand, ” Brand, It’s, ” Organizations: CNN, Sorbonne University, National Museum of, frugality, UK’s University of York, University of Quebec, University of Memphis Locations: Paris, Egypt, Cairo, Luxor, Abydos, Merneptah, Montreal

☆ Opinion | ‘Music Speaks to Some Deep Need Among Humans’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-09 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Delving Into the Archaeology of Music” (Science Times, May 21):Virtually all our achievements as a species depend upon humans working together. One human alone, in a state of nature, is a medium-sized animal struggling for survival (and with no use for music). Music is a vital part of that process. It’s no wonder that music, like language, is universal among us. David GoldbergNew YorkTo the Editor:I was interested to read the latest research into music using big data, as your article reports.

Persons: David Goldberg, David Epstein Organizations: Science Times, York

☆ Scientists discovered 50,000-year-old viruses in Neanderthal DNA that could help explain their mysterious extinction
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Researchers studying ancient Neanderthal DNA found traces of three viruses that cause colds, cold sores, genital warts, and cancer. And ancient humans might have been the ones who started spreading these bugs, according to the scientists who recently published their work in the peer-reviewed journal "Viruses." This isn't the first time researchers have found inert (no longer infectious) ancient human viruses. That means tools used to study ancient human DNA might not work for viruses, Sally Wasef, a paleogenetics researcher at Queensland University of Technology, told New Scientist. Massilani also had some concerns with how the researchers were interpreting the ancient DNA.

Persons: —, Marcelo Briones, Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology Hendrik Schmidt, papillomavirus, Briones, Sasha Tabachnikova, Epstein, Barr, wasn't, Sally Wasef, Massilani Organizations: Service, Business, Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology, Getty, Yale School of Medicine, Yale, Queensland University of Technology, New Locations: Chemnitz, Chagyrskaya Cave, Southern Siberia, Briones, Siberia

☆ Mega rock engravings could be ancient borders, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Ancient rock engravings in what’s now South America — believed to be among the largest in the world — were meant to mark the boundaries of the territories inhabited by their makers, according to a new study. The rock art at Cerro Pintado, about 42 meters long, includes a giant snake, a human figure, a mask motif and a multilegged creature. Philip Riris et al. Monumental rock art of a snake tail in Colombia dwarfs the humans in this image. A close-up shows a detail of rock art on Picure Island, Venezuela.

Persons: South America —, Philip Riris et, ”, Philip Riris, —, Riris, they’re, ” Riris, weren’t, don’t, constricting, José Oliver, Natalia Lozada Mendieta —, Oliver, Lozada Mendieta, George Lau, Dr, Alexander Geurds, Geurds, doesn’t, ” Geurds, “ Organizations: CNN, Venezuela —, Cerro Pintado, Bournemouth University, University College London, Universidad de Los, Colombian, Venezuelan, University of East, University of Oxford Locations: what’s, South America, Venezuela, Colombia, Pintado, Cerro, Cerro Pintado, United Kingdom, Universidad de Los Andes, Americas, University of East Anglia, American

☆ Archaeologists found a secret chamber at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and they have no idea what it is
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Western Cemetery holds hundreds of rectangular tombs called mastabas that line the base of Giza's Great Pyramid. AdvertisementThe L-shaped structure's corners are "too sharp" to be naturally occurring, researcher Motoyuki Sato, who helped find the anomaly, told Live Science. For deeper structures, ERT can locate walls, shafts, and similar anomalies but without as much detail. DeAgostini/Getty ImagesAt some point, the shallower L-shaped structure was filled with sand, which could be a clue to its purpose. They don't know what, if anything, is in the deeper structure.

Persons: —, Khufu, Motoyuki Sato Organizations: Service, Western, Business, swatch, Higashi Nippon International University, Tohoku University, National Research Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, ERT Locations: Giza, Egypt

☆ Reconstructing skulls brings Scotland’s ancient faces back to life
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As visitors explore the recently opened Perth Museum and Art Gallery in Scotland, they come face-to-face with the past. Perth Museum, Culture Perth & Kinross/Chris Rynn“The excavator speculated that a desperate injury had been inflicted that possibly caused the individual’s death,” according to information that the museum shared. Perth Museum, Culture Perth & Kinross/Chris RynnEach skull took about 50 hours to reconstruct. After reconstructing each skull digitally, Rynn added layers of tissue, estimating tissue depths by studying each skull’s shape. At the end of his reconstructions, Rynn used an algorithm to animate the faces, allowing them to blink or change expressions.

Persons: Chris Rynn, Mark Hall, I’ve, ” Rynn, Hall, we’ve, what’s, ” Hall, you’ve, “ Organizations: CNN, Perth Museum, Art, Perth, Culture, Kinross, of Aberdeen Locations: Scotland, Kinross, Culture Perth, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland’s

☆ Barry Kemp, Who Unearthed Insights About Ancient Egypt, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Clay Risen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barry Kemp, an archaeologist whose decades of painstaking digging at the abandoned capital of a mysterious pharaoh helped revolutionize our understanding of how everyday ancient Egyptians lived, worked and worshiped, died on May 15 in Cambridge, Britain, one day after his 84th birthday. The death was announced by the Amarna Project, an archaeology nonprofit where Mr. Kemp was director. Almost from the moment he arrived to teach at Cambridge University in 1962, fresh out of college, Mr. Kemp was a phenomenon. Much of his work had little to do with the pharaohs, though. He was among the first to apply the questions of social history, in which scholars explore the lives of everyday people in the past, to ancient Egypt.

Persons: Barry Kemp, Kemp Organizations: Amarna, Cambridge University Locations: Cambridge, Britain, Egypt

☆ The wreck of a legendary WWII US submarine has been found at the bottom of the South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewResearchers say they have located the final resting place of one of the most storied vessels of World War II: the USS Harder. Lost 52 is headed by entrepreneur and ocean explorer Tim Taylor, along with diving entrepreneur Christine Dennison. A black-and-white image of the USS Harder on February 1944. The Lost 52 team has previously located at least six other US submarines. Finding the Harder "highlighted the importance of ocean data collection and the significance of underwater robotic technology," Taylor told BI.

Persons: —, Tim Taylor, Christine Dennison, Insider's Elias Chavez, Samuel Dealey, Harder, Samuel J, Cox, Taylor Organizations: Service, Heritage Command, Business, NHHC, Heritage, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: South China, Japan, Philippines, Dasol, Tiburon

☆ Rare lunar event may reveal Stonehenge’s link with the moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The lunar standstill is when the northernmost and southernmost moonrise and moonset are farthest apart. Stonehenge's station stones are thought by some to be aligned with the lunar standstill. Ruggles said that Stonehenge’s station stones, which form a rectangle around the circle, roughly align with the moon’s extreme positions during the lunar standstill. However, it’s much more difficult to say whether Stonehenge really has a connection to the lunar standstill. Amanda Bosh/Stephen LevineOther monuments with possible lunar linkStonehenge isn’t the only megalithic monument potentially linked to the lunar standstill.

Persons: Clive Ruggles, ”, Fabio Silva, ” Ruggles, Ruggles, Andre Pattenden, Silva, ” Silva, Amanda Bosh, Stephen Levine, Erica Ellingson, Ellington, Bradley Schaefer Organizations: CNN, archaeoastronomy, University of Leicester, Bournemouth University, University of Oxford, English Heritage, University of Colorado, Sun, Louisiana State University Locations: Salisbury, England, Rock , Colorado, United States, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, Pueblo, Lewis, Scotland

☆ Gold earring found in burned Iron Age village may reveal ‘moment in time,’ archaeologists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The inferno consumed the wooden structure, situated in an Iron Age settlement, killing six animals penned in the stable. The presence of a horse in the stable suggested that these people were wealthier than some of their neighbors, Olesti Vila said. The site provides important insights into the daily lives of Iberian Iron Age populations in the Pyrenees at this pivotal time in history, Arnold said in an email. During the Iron Age, when people lived in wooden homes heated by fires, buildings often accidentally burned. “This is also an indication of some kind of conflict or some kind of violent aggression,” Olesti Vila said.

Persons: Oriol Olesti Vila, Baltarga, Francesc Riart, Olesti Vila, “, weren’t, ”, Bettina Arnold, Arnold, ” Arnold, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Autonomous University of Barcelona, University of Wisconsin -, Scientific Locations: Iberia, Spain, Tossal, Baltarga, Iron, Hannibal, Roman Republic, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Pyrenees, “, Europe

☆ ‘La Chimera’: Alice Rohrwacher and Isabella Rossellini discuss their intoxicating tale of Italy’s tomb raiders
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —In Alice Rohrwacher’s latest movie, the gently hypnotic “La Chimera,” a rakish Josh O’Connor navigates the Italian countryside with a dowsing rod in hand, searching for ancient treasure. “My job is very close to what an archaeologist does: giving meaning to things that happened in the past.”A still from "La Chimera," which was shot on three types of film stock. To approach “La Chimera” with dense history and sharp facts threatens to tear at its ethereal qualities — a hallmark of Rohrwacher’s filmmaking. Isabella Rossellini as Senora Flora in "La Chimera." “La Chimera” is released in UK cinemas on May 10 and is available to stream in the US.

Persons: Alice Rohrwacher’s, Josh O’Connor, Arthur, –, there’s, O’Connor, “, Rohrwacher, I’ve, ” Rohrwacher, ”, Curzon, tombaroli, O’Connor’s Arthur, he’s, Eurydice, Isabella Rossellini, Flora, Alice, ‘, ’ ”, Rossellini, Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman, ” “, Josh O'Connor, Virgil, Senora Flora, Ad, Federico, Fellini, Paolo, Pasolini, “ Paisan ”, ” “ Alice, it’s Organizations: CNN, “, Carabinieri, UNESCO Locations: Etruria, Tuscany, New York State, British, Italy, Rome, Open, Italian

☆ A hiker discovered a wealthy traveler's remains on a skiing glacier in Switzerland. They turned out to be 400 years old.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

A hiker discovered the 400-year-old remains of a wealthy man on a glacier in the Swiss Alps. © Valais History Museum, Sion; Michel MartinezAll these items dated to around 1600 AD. Archaeologists uncover mule bones on the Theodul glacier in Switzerland, near Zermatt. © Valais History Museum, Sion; Michel MartinezHe wasn't a soldier-for-hire after all, a 2015 paper concluded. Andenmatten steps out of a freezer where artifacts are stored in the basement of the Valais History Museum archives.

Persons: Michel Martinez, They're, Pierre, Yves Nicod, Nicod, Ambroise Héritier, Morgan McFall, Johnsen, Sophie Providoli, It's, you've, haven't, Philippe Curdy, Romain Andenmatten, Spain's, Emilio Morenatti, Paul HANNY, Ötzi, Andenmatten Organizations: Service, . Business, Business, AP, Johnsen Archaeologists Locations: Swiss, Switzerland, Italy, Valais, Sion, du Valais, Zermatt, Germany, Aosta, Russia, Vilanova, Sau, Catalonia, Spain, Florida, Austria

☆ Amateur archaeologists found a mysterious 12-sided object from the Roman Empire that experts can't explain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An amateur archaeology group found a mysterious dodecahedron near an ancient Roman villa. Amateur archaeologists with the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group have been excavating its remains, including a bathhouse, gatehouse, and ancient tiled mosaic floors for the last few years when they made a miraculous discovery. Though he'd never seen one in person, Rob Evershed, a member of the group, recognized the hollow, rounded object as a Roman dodecahedron. No one knows the purpose of the dodecahedronThe Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group on the day they discovered the dodecahedron. Dodecahedrons may have been custom-madeParker thinks it would've taken an expert to make the dodecahedron that the Norton Disney group found.

Persons: —, Richard Parker, Richard Watts, they've, Norton, we'd, Parker, he'd, Rob Evershed, Frances McIntosh, McIntosh, haven't, dodecahedrons Organizations: Service, Norton Disney, Group, BBC, Lincoln Museum, English Heritage, Washington Post Locations: London, Hertfordshire, England, England's Midlands, British, Britain, Roman, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Africa, Turkey

☆ New mission could reveal secrets of the moon’s ‘hidden side’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In one lunar region, Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission has beaten the odds and survived three long, frigid lunar nights since its sideways landing on January 19. The Tianwen-2 mission will visit the space rock later this decade. But first, China has set its sights on returning to the moon’s “hidden side.”An illustration depicts the far side of the moon, with Earth behind it. Since the Chang’e 4 mission in 2019, China remains the only country to have landed on the moon’s far side, sometimes called the “dark side” of the moon. Scientists hope that returning samples from the far side could solve some of the biggest remaining lunar mysteries, including the moon’s true origin.

Persons: Graziano Ranocchia, Ranocchia, Plato, Emma Pomeroy, “ She’s, ”, Pomeroy, Armas Rakus, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Kevin Bacon, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Engineers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, Apollo, Platonic Academy of Athens, University of Pisa, Netflix, University of Cambridge, Norton Disney, Archaeology Group, Roman, International Space, CNN Space, Science Locations: China, Kurdistan, Gunung Leuser, South Aceh, Indonesia, Morocco

☆ Was the Stone Age Actually the Wood Age?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The basic chronology — Stone Age to Bronze Age to Iron Age — now underpins the archaeology of most of the Old World (and cartoons like “The Flintstones” and “The Croods”). Thomsen could well have substituted Wood Age for Stone Age, according to Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist and head of research at the Department of Cultural Heritage of Lower Saxony, in Germany. “We can probably assume that wooden tools have been around just as long as stone ones, that is, two and a half or three million years,“ he said. Of the thousands of archaeological sites that can be traced to the era, wood has been recovered from fewer than 10. The projectiles unearthed at the Schöningen site, known as Spear Horizon, are considered the oldest preserved hunting weapons.

Persons: Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, Thomsen, Thomas Terberger, “, Terberger, heidelbergensis Organizations: Department of Cultural Heritage, National Academy of Sciences Locations: Danish, Europe, Lower Saxony, Germany, Schöningen

☆ Reconstruction reveals face of Neanderthal specimen Shanidar Z
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Known as Shanidar Z, after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where she was found in 2018, the woman was a Neanderthal, a type of ancient human that disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The Shanidar Z facial reconstruction suggests that these differences might not have been so stark in life, Pomeroy said. Shanidar cave in Iraqi Kurdistan was first excavated in the 1950s. Neanderthals may not have honored their dead with bouquets of flowers, but the inhabitants of Shanidar Cave were likely an empathetic species, research suggests. Shanidar Z is the first Neanderthal found in the cave in more than 50 years, Pomeroy said, but the site could still yield more discoveries.

Persons: sapiens, Emma Pomeroy, Pomeroy, ”, “ She’s, ” Pomeroy, Graeme Barker, “, Adrie, Alfons Kennis, Dr, Lucía, Danish paleoartists Adrie Organizations: CNN, BBC, Netflix, University of Cambridge’s, Cambridge, Liverpool, University of Cambridge, Catalan Institute, Human Locations: Kurdistan, Europe, East, Central Asia, Shanidar, Cambridge, Spain, Danish

☆ ‘Great enigma’: Amateur archaeologists unearth mysterious Roman object
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Emily Blumenthal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Amateur archaeologists in England have unearthed one of the largest Roman dodecahedrons ever found, but mystery surrounds what it was actually used for. The 12-sided object is one of just 33 known to exist in Roman Britain, and one of approximately 130 in the world. It is considered “one of archaeology’s great enigmas,” according to the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, an amateur group based in the English region of Lincolnshire where it was found in June. “It is completely unique,” said Richard Parker, secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, adding that no similar objects have ever been found. Norton Disney History and Archaeology GroupParker told CNN there are no descriptions of the dodecahedron in Roman literature, and they have not been depicted pictorially in mosaics.

Persons: “, ” Andrea Martin, ”, Richard Parker, It’s, ” Parker, Parker, we’re Organizations: CNN — Amateur, Roman, Norton Disney, Archaeology Group, Lincoln Museum, Lincolnshire County, Lincoln Festival, CNN Locations: England, Roman Britain, Lincolnshire

☆ Art Seeks Enlightenment in Darkness
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Jori Finkel | More About Jori Finkel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This article is part of our Museums special section about how institutions are striving to offer their visitors more to see, do and feel. To enter Kehinde Wiley’s show “An Archaeology of Silence” is to step into darkness, where only the art itself seems to emit light. The space feels somewhere between a crypt and a cathedral, featuring paintings and bronze sculptures of reclining Black bodies, spread out in repose or entombed like corpses, that appear to glow from within. The show, now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, culminates with a monumental sculpture of a fallen man on horseback, draped over the horse as if he had just been shot, his Nikes dangling below the saddle. Made in the year after George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis, this monument — and more broadly, the show as a whole — confronts the “legacy and scope of anti-Black violence,” according to Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.

Persons: George Floyd, Darren Walker Organizations: Museum of Fine Arts, Ford Foundation Locations: Houston, Minneapolis

☆ Sex and marriage patterns in an ancient empire revealed by DNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

With opulent graves but no written records, the empire and its people have remained largely in the shadows of history until recently. But a landmark April 2022 study involving ancient DNA taken from the graves of the Avar elite shed light on the empire’s far-flung origins. A tiny sample is drilled from a bone at the ancient DNA laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In the case of men, researchers found two partners in 10 cases, three partners in four cases and four partners in one case. “Polygamy (having multiple marriage partners), serial monogamous marriages and extramarital relations are all possible explanations,” she said.

Persons: ”, Zsófia Rácz, Rácz, aren’t, Guido Alberto Gnecchi, Max Planck, Eötvös Loránd University Múzeum Lara Cassidy, “, polygyny, Ruscone, Cassidy, Bryan Miller, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd, Múzeum, University’s, Archaeological Sciences, Max, Max Planck Institute, Eötvös Loránd University, Trinity College Dublin, Turks, Central, University of Michigan Locations: Central, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Rákóczifalva, Budapest, Leipzig, Germany, Europe, Mongolia, Caucasus, what’s, Constantinople, Byzantine, Eurasia

☆ The extraordinary ancient secret places hidden under Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lisa Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Less obviously visible but equally impressive are the historical treasures, some more than 12,000 years old, that can be found underground. Unlike the Basilica, this underground chamber was completely forgotten about until less than 15 years ago. Other than locals herding their livestock through the ruins of a garrison city dating to the 6th century, few people went there. Now, the site has given up numerous treasures including rock-cut tombs, an olive processing workshop and a series of underground cisterns. Yeraltı, literally meaning underground, was originally a dungeon in the basement of a fort built by the Byzantines in the 8th century CE.

Persons: James Bond, Theodosius II, Theodosius, Derinkuyu, tufa, émigrés, Han, Rümeli Han, Sarıcazade Ragıp Pasha, Sultan Abdülhamid II’s, Sancaklar, Göbeklitepe, Yeraltı, –, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Grand Vizier Bahir Mustafa Paşa, dervish Organizations: CNN, Love, UNESCO, Şanlıurfa Archaeology Locations: Turkey, Europe, Asia, Russia, Faith, Istanbul, Constantinople, Fatih, Belgrade Forest, Valens, Dara, Mardin, Nevşehir, Cappadocia, Derinkuyu, Taksim, stairwells, Sancaklar, Büyükçekmece, Mecca, Göbeklitepe, everyone’s, Şanlıurfa, Karaköy, Yeraltı, Ottoman, Grand

☆ Aboriginal spears returned to Australia after 250 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A British university has given back four spears taken more than 250 years ago from an aboriginal community in Australia by explorer Captain James Cook. Trinity College Cambridge permanently repatriated the spears to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community at a ceremony Tuesday, according to a joint statement from the college and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), which supported the move. “The spears were pretty much the first point of European contact, particularly British contact with Aboriginal Australia,” said Ray Ingrey, director of the Gujaga Foundation, a research organization working in the La Perouse community, in the statement. The resulting British colonization of Australia resulted in the introduction of foreign diseases, displacement, and massacres against the aboriginal people. National Museum of AustraliaSome members of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community are direct descendants of those who crafted the spears, according to the statement.

Persons: CNN —, Captain James Cook, ”, Ray Ingrey, AIATSIS Cook, Rod Mason, Noeleen Timbery, Sally Davies, Trinity Organizations: CNN, British, Captain James Cook . Trinity College Cambridge, La, La Perouse Aboriginal, Australian Institute of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Aboriginal, Gujaga Foundation, HMS, Trinity College, of Archaeology, National Museum of Australia, La Perouse Aboriginal Community, Aboriginal Land Council, Elders, Trinity Locations: Australia, La Perouse, Kamay, Aboriginal Australia, Botany, Kurnell, New Zealand, Cambridge, Kurnel, Perouse

Search resuls for: "Archaeology"

25 mentions found