Latest archaeological digs may revamp Qatar’s entire history

September 23rd, 2009 COLOMBO - An archaeological site more than 3330 years old has been found in the Udaranchamadama area in Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka, by a group of local archaeologists. According to a report in the Daily Mirror Online, the site had been discovered by Professor Raj Somadeva and his team while excavating an area belonging to the Sri Jayabodharama temple in Udaranchamadama.

August 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is all set to test nearly 300 engraved stones in a new laboratory in Mexico, in order to decipher the ancient Zapoteca Writing. The laboratory will be operating at Monte Alban Archaeological Zone in Oaxaca, Mexico.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Recent archaeological discoveries from far-flung corners of China are forcing scientists to reconsider the origins of ancient Chinese civilization. A group of articles by Science news writer Andrew Lawler have explored how, over several millennia, China evolved from a much wider array of peoples and cultures than once imagined.

August 21st, 2009 LONDON - A team of archaeologists has uncovered what they believe could be remains of the only medieval stone castle in South Northamptonshire, UK. According to a report in the Northampton Chron and Echo newspaper, archaeologists from Northamptonshire made the discovery at The Mount in Alderton, near Towcester, after they picked up where Time Team's archaeologists left off eight years ago.

August 13th, 2009 ANKARA - Archaeologists have uncovered a centuries-old Jewish temple in Antalya, Turkey, which may date back to the 3rd century AD. According to a report in Today's Zaman, ongoing excavations at the ancient port city of Andriake in Lycia - located in Antalya's Demre district - uncovered the centuries-old Jewish temple.

July 12th, 2009 BEIRUT - The Directorate-General of Antiquities, Lebanon, has said that it plans to resume excavation at the Freres' archaeological site in the old city of Sidon in collaboration with a delegation of the British museum, in order to uncover more ancient ruins.arlier excavation procedures at the site led to the discovery of several of the city's underground layers, which dated back to 1,000-4,000 B.C. Claude Doumit Serhal, the head of the British museum delegation, told The Daily Star that archaeological teams would also conduct excavation works at the neighboring site of Sandaqli in order to conduct comparative research among the two sites' layers.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - A new study is going to determine the archaeological sites along the coast of England which are most at risk from the impacts of climate change. The effects of climate change, including rising sea level and coastal erosion, as well as other factors such as coastal development and shoreline management initiatives, constantly threaten archaeological sites along the coast of England.

July 8th, 2009 LONDON - An archaeological dig at the heart of Cambridge University, UK, has revealed Roman pottery, medieval remains and 11th Century dog bones. According to a report by BBC News, the dig has been taking place beneath a tearoom in the university's central offices, known as the Old Schools.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Dutch researcher Laurens van der Maaten has developed a new analytical technique that enables the computer to recognize archaeological material and fake works of art. According to a report in www.physorg.com, the technique not only enables the computer to better interpret the content of photos and images, but also of data.

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of archaeologists, in eastern Snohomish County, US, has found a treasure trove of artifacts from the Olcott period, 4,500 to 9,000 years ago, which even predates the first known pyramids in Egypt. "The developer accidentally bought himself one of the most significant sites in Washington State," Allyson Brooks, the state's historic preservation officer told The Herald.

June 18th, 2009 LIMA - Archaeologists at the National Institute of Culture (INC) have found a pre-Inca tomb in the Salapunku archaeological site, located inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in Cusco, southeastern Peru. Resident archaeologist Francisco Huaycaya Quispe said that these remains would belong to a woman from the Quillke culture, an indigenous which flourished before the Inca Empire.

June 8th, 2009 LONDON - The discovery of a sword stud beneath shops in Monmouth, Wales, could be evidence of an Anglo-Saxon period settlement, which might rewrite Welsh history. According to a report in Western Mail, at barely a centimetre across and almost unrecognisable after centuries underground, the stud could shed light on an almost unknown era of Welsh history.

June 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the University of Leeds, UK, have devised a new 'molecular clock' that aids dating of human migration history. Estimating the chronology of population migrations throughout mankind's early history has always been problematic.

May 31st, 2009 SOFIA - The latest archaeological research at the ancient observatory of Kokino in north-eastern Macedonia has revealed layers from the Iron Period, around the seventh century BC. "At the moment, there is intensive archaeological research on several sectors of the site," Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kancheska-Milevska explained during a Parliament session dedicated to questions of members of parliament.

May 29th, 2009 SHANGHAI - An archaeological team has discovered five ancient tombs of the Song and Ming dynasties in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province. According to a report in Shanghai Daily, the burial sites were originally accidentally discovered by workers of local electricity supply department when they made the ground work to set up a power-supply tower, a member of the archaeological team said.