Archaeology in Europe

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• Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire
• We do have bigger brains than Neanderthals did
• Public urged to vote for Peak archaeology dig site
• Silverdale Viking hoard examined by British Museum
• Incredible Viking hoard from days of Alfred the Great could 'fill in the blanks' about a murky period in British history
• Viking hoard provides new clues to 'previously unknown ruler'
• Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire
• Preliminary work to unearth ancient city of Isos begins

Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:13 AM PST 201-piece silver hoard from AD900 discovered by a metal detectorist in Silverdale, Lancashire Evidence of a previously unknown Viking king has been discovered in a hoard of silver found by a metal detectorist, stashed in a lead box in a field in Lancashire. The 201 pieces of silver including beautiful arm rings, worn by Viking warriors, were found on the outskirts of Silverdale, a village near the coast in north Lancashire, by Darren Webster, using the metal detector his wife gave him as a Christmas present. It adds up to more than 1kg of silver, probably stashed for safe keeping around AD900 at a time of wars and power struggles among the Vikings of northern England, and never recovered. Read the rest of this article...

We do have bigger brains than Neanderthals did Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:10 AM PST Modern humans possess brain structures larger than their Neanderthal counterparts, suggesting we are distinguished from them by different mental capacities, scientists find.  We are currently the only extant human lineage, but Neanderthals, our closest-known evolutionary relatives, still walked the Earth as recently as maybe 24,000 years ago. Neanderthals were close enough to the modern human lineage to interbreed, calling into question how different they really were from us and whether they comprise a different species. To find out more, researchers used CT scanners to map the interiors of five Neanderthal skulls as well as four fossil and 75 contemporary human skulls to determine the  shapes of their brains in 3-D. Like modern humans, Neanderthals had larger brains than both our living ape relatives and other extinct human lineages. Read the rest of this article...

Public urged to vote for Peak archaeology dig site Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:08 AM PST ARCHAEOLOGICAL excavations in the Peak District are in the running for a national award and support from the public can make all the difference. The Fin Cop project is one of five shortlisted for the prestigious Archaeological Research Project of the Year Award by readers and editors of Current Archaeology magazine. The excavations at Fin Cop, an Iron Age hill fort overlooking Monsal Dale, near Bakewell, rose to national significance when unexpected evidence of a prehistoric massacre was revealed. Skeletal remains of several young women and children were found thrown into a ditch with the ramparts pushed over them more than 2,000 years ago. Read the rest of this article...

Silverdale Viking hoard examined by British Museum Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:54 PM PST A hoard of Viking coins and jewellery found buried in north Lancashire is being examined by experts at the British Museum. The collection of more than 200 coins and pieces of jewellery was found in September close to Silverdale by Darren Webster, 39. The hoard, which was in a lead box, includes a coin thought to refer to a previously unknown Viking ruler. A coroner will decide this week if the hoard qualifies as treasure trove. Read the rest of this article...

Incredible Viking hoard from days of Alfred the Great could 'fill in the blanks' about a murky period in British history Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:52 PM PST A man who found a hoard of Viking silver that had lain undetected for hundreds of years has described his discovery as 'lucky'. Darren Webster got his metal detector out in a field near his home when he had an hour to spare one day, and 20 minutes later was digging up a hoard of hidden silver coins and jewellery. The 39-year-old stone mason from Lancashire made the discovery in September on land around Silverdale in north Lancashire. The artifacts date back to the ninth century and the rule of Alfred the Great. Read the rest of this article...

Viking hoard provides new clues to 'previously unknown ruler' Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:50 PM PST One of the most important hoards of Viking silver ever found in Britain contains valuable coins bearing the identity of a previously unknown ruler, it emerged yesterday. The "hugely significant" hoard of 1,000-year-old artefacts includes more than 200 coins, ingots and pieces of silver jewellery that was found buried underground in north Lancashire. Experts at the British Museum are currently examining the hoard after it was discovered in a lead pot by a metal detector enthusiast. A coroner will decide later this week whether it qualifies as treasure. The hoard was placed in a lead box and buried underground at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were attempting to wrest control of the north of the country from the Vikings. Read the rest of this article...

Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:49 PM PST 201-piece silver hoard from AD900 discovered by a metal detectorist in Silverdale, Lancashire Evidence of a previously unknown Viking king has been discovered in a hoard of silver found by a metal detectorist, stashed in a lead box in a field in Lancashire. The 201 pieces of silver including beautiful arm rings, worn by Viking warriors, were found on the outskirts of Silverdale, a village near the coast in north Lancashire, by Darren Webster, using the metal detector his wife gave him as a Christmas present. It adds up to more than 1kg of silver, probably stashed for safe keeping around AD900 at a time of wars and power struggles among the Vikings of northern England, and never recovered. Airdeconut – thought to be the Anglo Saxon coin maker's struggle to get to grips with the Viking name Harthacnut – was found on one of the coins in the hoard. Read the rest of this article...

Preliminary work to unearth ancient city of Isos begins Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:29 PM PST A team of archeologists has begun working on examining the site of the ancient city of Isos in southern Turkey by making use of ground-based sensors to visualize the underground features of the city's structures, the district governor has said.   İskender Yönden, the district governor of Erzin, Hatay province, announced on Monday that a team of four archeologists got to work at the reported site of the ancient city of Isos, which has been underground for some 500 years in the southern province of Hatay, as part of the work of unearthing the ancient city. Yönden said the excavations will continue after the archeologists find out more about the site of the city by looking at the processed imagery from the sensors Read the rest of this article...

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