EventsYou won't really see any difference apart from a very welcome speed improvement. It doesn't look like we have done much but the operating system we were running on was due to go to 'end-of-life' in the next few months and the latest equivalent would not run our code without some important changes.
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EventsI'm sad to relay the news of the untimely death of Tony Husband - legendary cartoonist and friend of the Portal. Tony's son Paul Husband told us of his memory of exploring megalithic sites with Tony together round Anglesey and other places. A few years back Tony drew a series of wonderful original cartoons for us which you can view on our page here.
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EventsOur new responsive, mobile friendly layout and design is now live as you will see around us. The new design adapts automatically to different page sizes including mobile screens, so we no longer need the separate, simplified m. pages. It is also has larger font sizes and is better for accessibility generally.
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EventsI'm delighted to say we have won Current Archaeology Book of the Year with our book 'The Old Stones', which so many of you contributed to. Thanks to everyone involved as we really wouldn’t have won it without you. The community enthusiasm aspect really shines through the pages.
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Multi-periodThis winter’s rains have uncovered two beautiful ancient clay figurines of horses in northern Israel, according to a statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
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Rock ArtThe Neolithic-era stone mask could have been a local way to stake a claim to land in the transition from hunting and gathering to farming, archaeologists suggest. Israeli archaeologists have retrieved a 9,000-year-old mask that was discovered by chance by a settler taking a walk in the hills south of Hebron, in the West Bank, officials said Wednesday.
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StonehengeDespite over a century of intense study, we still know very little about the people buried at Stonehenge or how they came to be there. Now, a new University of Oxford research collaboration, published in Nature Scientific Reports, suggests that a number of the people buried at the Wessex site had probably come from the west or the north, but probably not from the south or the east. (our italics)
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DiscoveriesThe results of LiDAR survey of 2,100-square kilometers surrounding Mayan sites in Guatemala's El Peten are revealing thousands of previously undocumented structures. Of major interest are structural features including irrigation and agricultural fields, and fortresses and linked watchtowers. The area mapped includes El Zotz and Tikal, where the survey may further expand the borders of this Mayan city-state.
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StonehengeIssue 6 of Historic England Research digital magazine is now available and focuses on recent research into the wider connected landscapes of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. A foreword to the special Stonehenge edition from Historic England's Chief Executive Duncan Wilson:
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FunHow people lived in prehistoric times fascinates the public and this stamp issue explores this subject. The stamps show iconic sites as well as some of the most exceptional artefacts, and overlays illustrations to show how people lived and worked at these sites and used the objects. Overall, the stamps give a timeline across thousands of years of history, from a glimpse of Stone Age ritual of 11,000 years ago, to the Iron Age of some 300 BC.
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Natural PlacesWell-preserved findings in burial cave from Natufian era 12,000 years ago shed light on surprisingly complex funereal rituals. A human foot and 86 tortoise shells were just some of the extraordinary finds discovered in the prehistoric grave of a female shaman in the Galilee, in northern Israel, dating back some 12,000 years.
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Neolithic and Bronze AgeA pioneering research project co-directed by a University archaeologist and Historic England has won an international award for its game-changing shift in the understanding of European prehistory.

Distinguished Research Professor Alasdair Whittle collected the Shanghai Archaeology Forum Research Award (SAF) for ‘The Times of Their Lives’ on behalf of a multi-national team at the second Shanghai Archaeology Forum (December 2015.) Professor Alasdair Whittle of the School of History, Archaeology and Religion and Professor Alexandra Bayliss of Historic England jointly lead the 2.5 million Euro project funded by the European Research Council.
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DigsArchaeologists have found two seals with Hebrew names, dating back to the time of the First Temple, in Jerusalem's City of David. The objects belonged to a woman and a man, Elihana bat Gael and Sa'aryahu ben Shabenyahu.
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Multi-periodAncient bathhouse and winery discovered in Jerusalem

The find was made prior to construction of homes for city's ultra-Orthodox population


Archaeologists digging in central Jerusalem ahead of the construction of residential buildings for the city's ultra-Orthodox community have discovered a "large and impressive" winery and bathhouse believed to be at least 1,600 years old, Israel's Antiquities Authority declared on Wednesday.

The Roman or Byzantine era find, which was uncovered in the Schneller Compound, included a complex pressing surface paved with a white mosaic which allowed for the "extracting the maximum amount of must from the grapes" and had eight storage facilities for additional grapes.

According to the IAA, the winery is believed to have "served the residents of a large manor house whose inhabitants made their living by, among other things, viticulture and wine production."

More : http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/104781-160302-ancient-bathhouse-and-winery-discovered-in-jerusalem

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Multi-periodArchaeologists in Israel have discovered a marble slab near to Lake Kinneret which could point to a Jewish settlement in the region as far back as 1,500 years ago. The slab was excavated in the Kinneret National Park and is a sign of the first Jewish or Judeo-Christian settlement within the region.
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StonehengeEnglish Heritage will once again welcome people to Stonehenge to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Sunrise is just after 8am on Tuesday 22 December and visitors will be able to access the monument as soon as it is light enough to do so safely.
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Neolithic and Bronze AgeA seal impressed with ‘Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah,’ has been unearthed next to Temple Mount, and is decorated with Egyptian motifs.
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DigsA fascinating, recent discovery appears to have solved one of Jerusalem’s biggest historical mysteries: the location of the Acra, the fortified compound in Jerusalem built by Antiochus Epiphanes, ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, following his sack of the city in 168 BCE. The renowned fortress was used to control the Jewish city and to monitor the activities in the temple. The Akra was eventually conquered by the Hasmoneans.
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