Archaeology News: Thursday October 28, 2010

Paleontologists have revealed the earliest known African anthropoids found to date - three previously unknown kinds of the primates from Dur At-Talah in central Libya that apparently date back 38 million to 39 million years ago. The diversity and timing of the new anthropoids raises two scenarios. Anthropoids might simply have emerged in Africa much earlier than thought, and gone undiscovered by modern paleontologists. Or they could have crossed over from Asia, where evidence suggests that anthropoids lived 55 million years ago, flourishing and diversifying in the wide-open ecological niches of an anthropoid-free Africa.

Niah Caves Should Be A World Heritage Site. The Niah Caves, located some 120 kilometres from Miri city, should be another world heritage site in Sarawak for its uniqueness, Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said here.

Italy: DNA tests may reveal true fate of Sicilian 'Robin Hood'. - The tomb of one of Italy's most legendary bandits was due to be opened on Thursday in Sicily to gather forensic evidence that will either fuel or put to rest suspicion that the body inside doesn't match the name on the sarcophagus: Salvatore Giuliano.

Archaeologists solve mystery of Silbury Hill (maybe) It is one of England's most mysterious monuments. Just a short walk from the massive stone circle complex of Avebury, Silbury Hill is a giant, flat-topped mound rising 120 feet above the surrounding countryside. Researchers have proposed dozens of theories over the years to explain its purpose, suggesting everything from a giant burial mound to a platform for religious music. 

Archaeologists find pre-historic migrants "This is of great regional significance, and it will generate national interest", said Edward Biddulph, senior project manager with Oxford Archaeology which conducted the dig.

Cornell Archaeologist Makes Neolithic Era Discovery. A project led by a Cornell professor is helping to re-write the early prehistory of Cyprus, the island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. By taking a new approach to examining human civilization, Prof. Sturt Manning, classics, and his team of undergraduate and graduate students from Cornell, the University of Toronto and the University of Cyprus, have uncovered new evidence that agricultural settlements had been formed up to half a millennium earlier than previously believed. 

Ayodhya verdict based on ASI report: Archaeologist. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court relied heavily on  the ASI report  in its verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, says Dr AK Mishra, one of the three observer-archaeologists appointed by the high court for their vigil during the excavation by ASI at the disputed site in Ayodhya.