Mar 30, 2015

Traces of Ancient Egyptian Beer Vessels Found in Israel

Tel Aviv's reputation as a party city for expats might have started 5,000 years ago. During the Bronze Age, Egyptians were making beer in what is today downtown Tel Aviv, new archaeological evidence suggests.

When archaeologists were conducting salvage excavations ahead of construction on new office buildings along Hamasger Street, they found 17 ancient pits that were used to store produce, according to an announcement from the Israel Antiquities Authority. These pits held Egyptian-style pottery that dated back to the Early Bronze Age I, a period that lasted from 3500 B.C. to 3000 B.C. [In Photos: Early Bronze Age Chariot Burial]

basis of previously conducted excavations in the region, we knew there is an Early Bronze Age site here, but this excavation is the first evidence we have of an Egyptian occupation in the center of Tel Aviv at that time," Diego Barkan, an archaeologist who was conducting the excavation on behalf of the IAA, said in the statement.

Barkan and his colleagues found hundreds of pottery fragments, including broken pieces of large ceramic basins traditionally used to prepare beer — a staple of the Egyptian diet.

The clay that was used to create these basins had been mixed with straw or other organic materials as strengthening agents. This method wasn't used in the local pottery industry in Israel, but straw-tempered vessels have been found before at other Egyptian sites — notably, the Egyptian administrative building that was excavated at En Besor in southern Israel, Barkan explained.

Archaeologists Find Underground Pyramid at Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, Excavations Planned

Archaeologists Find Underground Pyramid at Tiahuanaco in Bolivia, Excavations Planned

The ancient fortress site of Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) in western Bolivia is still revealing secrets thousands of years after its peak as capital of an empire, and home to one of the most important civilizations prior to the Inca. Archaeologists from the Tiahuanaco Archeological Research Center have discovered an underground pyramid at the site using ground-penetrating radar.

According to Fox News Latino, the Bolivian government has announced excavations are set to begin this summer on the new find at the Kantatallita area of Tiahuanaco, 71 kilometers (44 miles) west of La Paz.

Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers also have reportedly found “underground anomalies” which they suspect might be monoliths, but further analysis will be carried out before reaching official conclusions.

Mar 22, 2015

Does New Theory Pinpoint Lost City of Atlantis? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150318-atlantis-morocco-santorini-plato-adams-ngbooktalk/?sf8150728=1