Sunday, January 30, 2011

Roman Road Found In Dorset

A Roman road has been unearthed in Puddletown Forest in Dorset UK

The road was discovered by accident by workers from the Forestry Commission discovered during clearance work.

The road is believed to be part of the Ackling Dyke Roman Road, built to link Old Sarum (Salisbury) with the Roman fort at Exeter.

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Museumsbau einstimmig beschlossen

Das Limes-Museum am Römerpark Ruffenhofen wird nach dem Sieger-Modell des Architektenwettbewerbs gebaut. Wie erwartet haben sich die drei Hesselberg-Gemeinden Gerolfingen, Wittelshofen und Weiltingen für den Entwurf eines Münchner Architekturbüros entschieden.

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Friday, January 14, 2011

Your Favourite Archaeological Sites in Europe

Which sites in Europe have you most enjoyed visiting? A new Archaeology in Europe website allows you to post descriptions and photos of archaeological sites that you have visited, and to give ratings and comments for sites that are already in the database.

The site is very much in its infancy at the moment, and I would welcome contributions and feedback. It is envisaged that the site will grow into a useful source of up to date information for those planning to visit sites in Europe.

You can find the site at: archaeologyineurope.phile.com.

The site runs on Phile – a brilliant application developed by Mike Schiff and Sho Kuwamoto. Phile can be best described as a combination of an online database and a social network site, and it allows people with similar interests to share much more detailed information than the usual social network sites.

I am sure that Phile has tremendous potential for archaeological societies, fieldwork studies and other work groups. Take a look at phile.com.

Climate a factor in Rome's rise and fall: study

Climate change seems a factor in the rise and fall of the Roman empire, according to a study of ancient tree growth that urges greater awareness of the risks of global warming in the 21st century.

Good growth by oak and pine trees in central Europe in the past 2,500 years signaled warm and wet summers and coincided with periods of wealth among farming societies, for instance around the height of the Roman empire or in medieval times.

Periods of climate instability overlapped with political turmoil, such as during the decline of the Roman empire, and might even have made Europeans vulnerable to the Black Death or help explain migration to America during the chill 17th century.

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Roman coins stash is declared as treasure

A hoard of Roman coins discovered by a metal detecting club have been declared as treasure.

A group of six members from the East Devon Metal Detecting Society – Colin Hancock, Anthony Osbourne, John Evans, John Hill, George Stevens and Stephen Bassett – discovered the collection of 136 coins, three dinar and 133 copper and alloy, on February 24 and March 1, 2008, on farmland in Whiddon Down, near Okehampton.

A treasure trove inquest took place at Exeter County Hall on Wednesday.

Deputy Coroner Darren Salter took evidence from a British Museum representative and the Portable Antiquities Scheme funds liaison officer Danielle Wootton.

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Roman Erotic Cup To Go On Public Display

A famous Roman artefact once considered too shocking to be exhibited is coming to The University of Nottingham as part of a major new exhibition.

The Warren Cup, a silver cup decorated with scenes of male homosexual love, was recently featured in the BBC series A History of the World in 100 Objects and has its permanent home in the British Museum. It is only the second time the cup has left the Museum to be displayed outside London.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Experts to meet public at Medieval Bishop's Palace in bid to raise £320,000 for Frome Hoard A public appeal to save the largest Roman coin hoard ever

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A public appeal to save the largest Roman coin hoard ever found in Britain will host a major fundraising event at a Medieval palace in Somerset later this month.

The Art Fund needs to raise £320,250 by February 19 to buy the Frome Hoard, a buried pot of more than 52,000 coins found by metal detectorist Dave Crist in April 2010, for the Museum of Somerset in Taunton.

Supporters are being urged to make a minimum donation of £15 to attend an evening dedicated to the hoard at Bishop’s Palace in Wells, where experts from the British Museum will discuss the theories behind the burial in front of examples from the 1,700-year-old find.

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

'NEW' ROMAN VILLA AT WROXETER

Thanks to an innovative TV project with Channel 4, a Roman villa urbana - a high status Roman town house - has been erected at Wroxeter in Shropshire, on the site of the fourth largest city in Roman Britain. A six part TV series will start on Thursday 20 January following a team of modern builders as they set about building the town house using traditional Roman methods.

THE ‘VILLA URBANA’ AT WROXETER

The villa will be open to the public from Saturday 19 February, daily from 10am. It will greatly enhance the visitor experience at Wroxeter and will help bring history alive for the many school parties that come to the site each year.

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, says: "The series is immensely entertaining and an eye-opener. What a great way to approach history. I urge everyone to come to Wroxeter and see for themselves the remarkable replica they have built and appreciate the energy and ingenuity that defined so much of the Roman era.

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Roman treasure discoverd in field

An amateur sleuth with a metal detector has uncovered the haul of a lifetime in a Cumbrian field.

John Murray, 66, was amazed to find 308 Roman coins, some thought to be nearly 2,000 years old. The hoard was concealed in a smashed pot a few feet below the ground at Beckfoot, near Silloth.

It is the second major Roman find in Cumbria, following the Crosby Garrett helmet which was unearthed by a metal detectorist last May.

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Tourists to Rome hit with new hotel tax

Tourists visiting Rome are being hit with a new hotel tax to help pay for repairs and maintenance to the ancient city.

From Jan 1 all visitors to the Italian capital must pay an extra 2 euros per person per night to stay in hotels rated up to three stars and 3 euros per person per night for four and five star accommodation.

The tax, levied for the first ten nights of a stay in the city, will be collected at the end of a visitors' trip. The money raised will be used by the Roman councils to fund municipal services. Officials hope the tax will bring in more than 80 million (£69m) a year.

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