Archaeologist William Kelso is certain he's discovered the remains of the oldest Protestant church in the United States, standing between two holes he insists once held wooden posts.

In 1614, Pocahontas was "married right here, I guarantee," Kelso told AFP at the Jamestown, Virginia

Libya displays seized Roman-era artefacts

2011-11-26T13:30:12Z

Libya displayed on Saturday a treasure trove of Roman-era artefacts which officials allege Kadhafi loyalists were planning to sell to finance attacks.

The objects were seized in August on the day Tripoli fell to former rebels who had been fighting since mid-February to end the rule of now slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi

Coins show Herod built only part of Second Temple walls

2011-11-23T17:30:22Z

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered ancient coins near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City which challenge the assumption that all of the walls of the Second Temple were built by King Herod.

The coins, which date back to around 15 AD, were found inside a Jewish ritual bath located at the foot of the western wall of the Second Temple, which w...

Old coins force re-think on Jerusalem's Western Wall

2011-11-23T04:30:21Z

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli archaeologists Wednesday said they had found ancient coins that overturned widely-held beliefs about the origins of Jerusalem's Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.

For centuries, many thought the wall was built by King Herod - also infamous, ...

Archeological star emerges from obscurity

2011-11-22T02:30:12Z

Marcahuamachuco, an enigmatic 1,600-year-old archeological complex built from stone in the northern Peruvian Andes, is emerging bit by bit from oblivion and could become a beacon of tourism on the scale of Machu Picchu.

Spread over 590 acres (240 hectares) on a plateau more than 12,000 feet (3,700 meters) high in the mountains, the pre-Incan site embodies all the ev...

Cave-painters of ancient horses were realists: study

2011-11-07T18:30:27Z

An international team of researchers said Monday they have found the first evidence that spotted horses, often seen depicted in cave paintings, actually existed tens of thousands of years ago.

That means ancient artists were drawing what they saw around them, and were not abstract or symbolic painters -- a topic of much debate among archeologists -- said the findings in the WILMINGTON, North Carolina (Reuters) - Archeologists raised another cannon on Wednesday from the sunken wreck of pirate Blackbeard's legendary ship off the coast of North Carolina.

The eight-foot (2.4-meter) cannon, which had rested at the bottom of Beaufort Inlet sinc...

Wall collapses at Pompei after flash storms

2011-10-22T15:30:09Z

Part of an ancient Roman wall has collapsed at the archaeological site of Pompei in southern Italy following flash floods and storms across the country, a spokeswoman said Saturday.

The wall, built with the Roman "opus incertum" technique using irregularly shaped stones and concrete, collapsed on a stretch of the ancient city's external walls, near the Porta di Nola, in an area open to the public.

An archaeological team i...

Viking boat burial site found intact in Scotland

2011-10-19T10:00:23Z

The first fully intact Viking boat burial site to be found on British soil has been uncovered by a team of archaeologists in Scotland.

The five metre-long (16-foot) grave, thought to contain the remains of a high-status Viking, was discovered at a site estimated to be 1,000 years old.

The Viking was buried with an axe, a sword and a spear in a ship held together with 200 metal rivets.

The excavation project's co-director, ...

Meet the Gauls -- minus the dolmens

2011-10-19T02:30:07Z

Feisty forest-dwellers in winged helmets, with a fondness for roast boar, strong wine and Roman-bashing. That is the pen portrait of the Gaul as summed up by the pint-sized comic hero Asterix -- and it is wrong from start to finish.

Drawing on three decades of archaeology, "Les Gaulois", an exhibition opening this week at Paris' Cite des Sciences, debunks popular myths about the Celtic tribes, known collectively as the Gauls, who peopled modern-day Italian Alps veered off a marked footpath and stumbled upon one of the world's oldest and most important archeological finds: Oetzi, "The Iceman".

Oetzi fast became a sensation, not just because he proved to be more than 5,000 years old, but because his remains were so well-preserved, allowing paleontologists to uncover new details about the Stone Age in ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Four decorated clay disks have been discovered at a prehistoric site in Alaska, apparently the first artifacts of their type discovered in the state, the Universi...

Libya combs priceless ruins for war damage

2011-09-07T15:30:30Z

Libyan archaeologists are beginning to inspect the country's priceless historical sites, hoping part of their cultural heritage and economic future has not been ruined by war.

"It is the first time I go there since the war, Kadhafi's troops were inside and I want to know what happened," said Fadel Ali Mohammed, Libya's freshly appointed minister for antiquities.

Setting out from the Trip...

Saudi find shows horses used 9,000 years ago

2011-08-25T13:30:35Z

Saudi Arabia has found traces of a civilisation that was domesticating horses about 9,000 years ago, 4,000 years earlier than previously thought, the kingdom said.

"This discovery shows that horses were domesticated in the Arabian Peninsula for the first time more than 9,000 years ago, whereas previous studies estimated the domestication of horses i...

Saudi Arabia discovers 9,000 year-old civilization

2011-08-24T11:30:12Z

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is excavating a new archeological site that will show horses were domesticated 9,000 years ago in the Arabian peninsula, the country's antiquities expert said Wednesday.

Bulgaria subway expansion digs up Roman city

2011-08-14T13:30:16Z

Cars zoom by on the boulevards overhead as work progresses on expanding the subway underneath -- and in between a full-fledged Roman city has emerged right in the heart of the Bulgarian capital.

Archaeologists have little by little unearthed well-preserved stretches of cobbled Roman streets, a public bath, the ruins of a dignitary's house and the curved wall of an early Christian basilica, all dating back to the 4th century AD.

If all goes well, the ruins will be fashioned in...

Israelis link ancient sword to fall of Herod's temple

2011-08-08T13:30:34Z

Israeli archaeologists have discovered a Roman sword from the time of the destruction of the second Jewish temple in 70 AD, officials said on Monday as Jews prepared to mourn the anniversary.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said that the 60-centimetre (23.6-inch) long weapon and its leather scabbard were found during excavations in a 2,000-year-old drainage channel in the City of D...

New smart phone app lays bare Londinium

2011-08-08T06:00:29Z

LONDINIUM (Reuters) - Finding London's Roman ruins amid the tangled network of streets and lanes that make up the ancient part of a contemporary city is a challenge for even the most experienced urban explorer.

Now, a free mobile application for the iPhone,

Greek taxi strikers give tourists free ride

2011-08-02T03:00:05Z

ATHENS (Reuters) - Striking Greek taxi drivers tried to placate angry tourists Tuesday, giving them a free ride into the western town of Patras and letting them enter a major archaeological site on the island of Crete without paying.

The protesters have been on strike for 16 days against government plans to issue new taxi licenses -- par...

New York's Met to return 19 artifacts to Egypt: MENA

2011-07-30T03:30:09Z

CAIRO (Reuters) - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to return to Cairo 19 artifacts dating back to the time of ancient Egypt's teena...

Mesolithic "rest stop" found at UK supermarket site

2011-07-19T10:00:38Z

(Reuters Life!) - An early prehistoric hearth has been discovered on the planned construction site for a branch of major British supermarket chain Sainsbury's.

The charcoal remains, excavated from the site in Nairn, a town in the Scottish Highlands, date back to the Mesolithic period (10,000 to 4000 BC). They are believed to...

Lawsuit threat over Canadian mine project in Transylvania

2011-07-18T15:30:32Z

Opponents of a Canadian gold mine project at an ancient Roman site in Transylvania threatened to sue authorities on Monday after Romania's culture ministry issued a permit for the mine.

"We will go to court to contest the archaeological discharge certificate" delivered by a local department of the ministry, Eugen David, chairman of Alburnus Maior association, told AFP.

Alburnus Maior has brought together scores of vil...

US signs deal with Greece on trafficking of artefacts

2011-07-17T15:30:13Z

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed an agreement with Greece on Sunday aimed at clamping down on the import and sale of stolen archaeological artefacts.

Under the new agreement, the import of protected archaeological artefacts will be illegal if they have not first been cleared by the Greek authorities.

Clinton signed the agreement with Bucharest issued an archaeological discharge certificate for an area in northwestern Romania where a Canadian firm wants to establish a gold mine, the culture ministry said Friday.

The decision was criticized by groups defending the patrimony of the region's ancient Roman site.

"The department for culture and national patrimony in the Alba region issued an archaeological discharge ...

Chaos threatens Philippines' cultural treasures

2011-07-14T13:30:20Z

Thieves and art dealers are the usual suspects, but mildew and flashbulbs are just as dangerous for some of the Philippines' beleaguered cultural treasures.

From a 30,000-year-old skull fragment of one of its first human inhabitants to imposing churches built during Spanish colonial rule, the Southeast Asian archipelago has a stunning display of artefacts showcasing its diverse history.

But they are under threat on every f...

U.S. returns recovered artifacts taken from Iraq

2011-07-07T16:00:11Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ancient bead necklace, terra cotta tablets from ancient Babylonia depicting Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, and posters of deposed leader Saddam Hussein were among artifacts that U.S. officials returned to the Iraqi government on Thursday.

The repatriation of the relics -- some as old as 4...

In shadow of Minoan Palace, cleaner laments her plight

2011-07-07T06:00:20Z

KNOSSOS, Greece (Reuters) - Rania Pelekanaki is anxious about everything.

The 43-year-old mother of four worries about her husband's job, about her own salary, about her unemployed eldest son, about higher food prices -- in short, about the future.

"It's a mess," she says. "I don't know about tomorrow."

Pelekanaki, a cleane...

Peru celebrates 100 years of Machu Picchu 'discovery'

2011-07-07T03:30:10Z

Peruvians celebrate this month the centennial of the "discovery" of Machu Picchu, a world tourist attraction and archeological marvel that has yet to reveal all its secrets.

This 15th-century Inca city of carved stone structures, built high on an Andean mountain range in southeastern Peru, was introduced to the world by American explorer Peru decorated Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities minister, Monday for helping retrieve a cache of ancient artifacts taken from the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu nearly 100 years ago.

Hawass was in Lima with other archeologists for an international conference on protecting and rep...

India police guard temple treasure haul

2011-07-04T10:30:24Z

Armed commandos cordoned off a medieval Hindu temple in south India on Monday after gold coins and precious stones worth billions of dollars were found in its vaults.

The chief minister of southern Kerala state, Oommen Chandy, said local authorities needed to take precautions and had set up a three-tier security ri...

Ancient Egypt treasure gate unearthed in Luxor

2011-07-03T15:30:18Z

Egyptian and French archaeologists have unearthed a 2,700-year-old stone gate belonging to Nubian King Shabaka while digging near Luxor's Karnak temple, the ministry of antiquities said on Sunday.

The gate, which was found to be "in good condition," once led to the room holding the king's treasures, the ministry said.

"It is the first time an item of the 25th dynasty has been found in such good condition, and wasn't ruined by the 26th...

Cambodian 'puzzle' temple reopens after 50 years

2011-07-03T10:30:12Z

An ancient Angkor temple in northwestern Cambodia was reopened to the public on Sunday following the completion of a decades-long renovation project described as the world's largest puzzle.

The restoration of the 11th-century Baphuon monument, one of the country's largest after Angkor Wat, was celebrated with a high-profile ceremony attended by Cambodian

French Egyptologist who saved Nubian temples dies

2011-06-24T21:30:07Z

French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, known for her books on art and history and for saving the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam, has died at the age of 97, her editor Telemaque said Friday.

In a career spanning more than half-a-century, Desroches-Noblecourt also helped preserve the mummy of King Ramses II, which was threatened by fungus, and became the first French woman to lead an archaeological ...

Tiny camera reveals inside of ancient Mayan tomb

2011-06-23T18:30:38Z

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A tiny remote-controlled camera peered inside the tomb of a Mayan ruler that has been sealed for 1,500 years, revealing red frescoes, pottery and pieces of a funerary shroud made of jade and mother of pearl.

The tomb was discovered in 1999 inside a pyramid among the ruins of the Mayan city of Giza pyramids for more than 4,500 years.

A mission from Japan's Waseda University, the Japanese In...

Iraq's ancient Ur treasures 'in danger'

2011-06-19T06:30:19Z

Standing before the imposing ziggurat which was once part of a temple complex at the Sumerian capital of Ur, Iraqi archaeologist Abdelamir Hamdani worried about the natural elements that are eating away at one of the wonders of Mesopotamia.

"Is there anybody thinking about preserving these monuments?" asked the doctoral student from New York's <...

Egypt's revolution may save Neolithic treasure

2011-06-02T06:00:25Z

LAKE QARUN, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's popular uprising may have arrived just in time to save a Neolithic site that holds the country's oldest evidence of agriculture and could yield vital clues to the rise of Pharaonic civilization.

The site lies in a protected nature reserve along the shore north of Lake Qarun that until recently had remained virtually untouched...

Greece Ancient Seafarers

2011-01-03T08:31:44Z

This undated hand out photo provided by the Greek Culture Ministry on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, shows an Early Stone Age axe discovered by a US-Greek team of archaeologists on the southern island of Crete. A ministry statement said Monday that this and other similar finds, dating back at least 130,000 years, point to what may be one of the earliest sig...

Mideast Israel Ancient Teeth

2010-12-27T10:30:21Z

Professor Avi Gopher, left, and Dr. Ran Barkai from the Institute of Archeology of Tel Aviv University inspect an archeological site where ancient teeth were discovered near Rosh Haain, central Israel, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. Israeli archaeologists say they...

Search For Amelia

2010-12-17T12:01:47Z

This photo provided Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, by The International Group For Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) shows TIGHAR archaeologist Megan Lickliter-Mundon working at the dig site on the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro, in the South Pacific, where researchers say they found bone fragments that could help prove that famed aviator

Mideast Israel Palestinians Roman Pool

2010-11-22T08:01:39Z

A worker of the Israel Antiquities Authority works at an excavation site in Jerusalem's Old City, Monday, Nov. 22, 2010. Israeli archaeologists preparing the ground for a new Jewish ritual bath in Jerusalem's Old City say they have made a coincidental discovery, an 1,800 year-old-swimming pool built by the same Roman legion that destroy...

Mideast Egypt Antiquities

2010-11-15T09:00:34Z

This undated photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities on Monday Nov. 15, 2010, shows Egyptian workers at the site of the newly excavated Avenue of the Sphinxes on a sandstone section of a road that dates back from 380-362 B.C., at the city of Luxor, southern Egypt. Egypt's antiquities...