Noonans Specialist in Coins and Artefacts Nigel Mills stated that the ancient bronze Viking die might have bene used to ornament the cheek guards of an iron helmet. Image courtesy of Noonans

Bronze Viking die found by metal detectorist tops $19K at auction

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An 11th-century bronze Viking die, discovered in a field in Norfolk, England by a metal detectorist, auctioned for a hammer price of £15,000 (about $19,300) on July 18. Image courtesy of Noonans, photo credit Jason Jones

An 11th-century bronze Viking die, discovered in January in a field in Norfolk, England by a metal detectorist, auctioned for a hammer price of £15,000 (about $19,300) on July 18. Image courtesy of Noonans, photo credit Jason Jones

LONDON – An 11th-century bronze Viking die that was discovered in a field in Norfolk, England by a metal detectorist achieved a hammer price of £15,000 (about $19,300) at the Noonans Mayfair auction house on July 18 in its Ancient Coins and Antiquities sale. It was bought by a collector in the UK.

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Two looted 8th-century Indian stone idols recovered in the UK

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A Yogini Camunda (left) and a Yogini Gomukhi (right), Indian stone idols dating to the eighth century, both stolen from a temple in Lokhari, India between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, have been recovered. Image courtesy of Art Recovery International

A Yogini Camunda (left) and a Yogini Gomukhi (right), stone idols dating to the eighth century, both stolen from a temple in Lokhari, India between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, have been recovered. Image courtesy of Art Recovery International

LONDON – “There’s a lot of loot in the United Kingdom and we aim to shake it loose,” said CEO and Founder of Art Recovery International Christopher A. Marinello after the successful recovery of two eighth-century stone idols that had been illegally removed from a temple in Lokhari, India in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The recovery of a Yogini Camunda and a Yogini Gomukhi (aka Cow-headed One) brings the number to three important Yogini idols recovered by Marinello in the past two years.

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Rough stone tools dating back about 700,000 years, found in the Megalopolis area of Greece, shown here on a map of the country, will force scholars to reconsider the origins of Greek archaeology. The find, announced on June 1, could push the earliest record of human ancestors’ presence in Greece back by as much as 250,000 years. Map image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, credited to Lencer. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Newly discovered stone tools drag dawn of Greek archaeology back by a quarter-million years

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Rough stone tools dating back about 700,000 years, found in the Megalopolis area of Greece, shown here on a map of the country, will force scholars to reconsider the origins of Greek archaeology. The find, announced on June 1, could push the earliest record of human ancestors’ presence in Greece back by as much as 250,000 years. Map image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, credited to Lencer. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Rough stone tools dating back at least 300,000 years and found in the Megalopolis area of Greece (indicated on this map), could force scholars to reconsider the origins of Greek archaeology. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, credited to Lencer. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country’s oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans’ hominin ancestors. The find, announced June 1, would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.

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The front side of the gold bracteate with the Odin inscription. Photo credit: Arnold Mikkelsen, The National Museum of Denmark.

Oldest reference to Norse god Odin identified on Danish gold disc

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The front side of the gold bracteate with the Odin inscription. Photo credit: Arnold Mikkelsen, The National Museum of Denmark.

The front side of the gold bracteate with the Odin inscription. Photo credit: Arnold Mikkelsen, The National Museum of Denmark.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Scandinavian scientists said March 8 that they have identified the oldest-known inscription referencing the Norse god Odin on part of a gold disc unearthed in western Denmark in 2020.

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Roman shrine uncovered beneath graveyard in central England

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The University of Leicester created a 3D model of the Roman altar stone found during the archaeological dig at Leicester Cathedral. Image courtesy of University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS)

The University of Leicester created a 3D model of the Roman altar stone found during the archaeological dig at Leicester Cathedral. Image courtesy of University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS)

LONDON (AP) – Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe to be a Roman shrine beneath a former graveyard in the grounds of a cathedral in central England. Experts from the University of Leicester said March 7 that they found what appears to be the cellar of a Roman building and a fragment of a 1,800-year-old altar stone during excavations in the grounds of Leicester Cathedral.

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The Vatican Museums, seen from St. Peter’s, in an undated photo. On March 7, the Vatican and Greece finalized a deal to return three sculptural fragments from the Parthenon, which had been in the Vatican Museums for about 200 years, to their country of origin. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit F. Bucher. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Vatican, Greece ink deal for ‘donation’ of Parthenon marbles

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The Vatican Museums, seen from St. Peter’s, in an undated photo. On March 7, the Vatican and Greece finalized a deal to return three sculptural fragments from the Parthenon, which had been in the Vatican Museums for about 200 years, to their country of origin. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit F. Bucher. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The Vatican Museums, seen from St. Peter’s, in an undated photo. On March 7, the Vatican and Greece finalized a deal to return three sculptural fragments from the Parthenon, which had been in the Vatican Museums for about 200 years, to their country of origin. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit F. Bucher. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

ROME (AP) – The Vatican and Greece finalized a deal March 7 for the return of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries, the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution.

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Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz and Maciej Grzywaczewski examine the plates of the Warsaw Ghetto photos taken by Macjej’s father, Zbigniew Grzywaczewski, who died in 1993. Museum of the History of Polish Jews, photo credit M. Jazwiecki

New photographs of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising found in family collection

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Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz and Maciej Grzywaczewski examine the plates of the Warsaw Ghetto photos taken by Macjej’s father, Zbigniew Grzywaczewski, who died in 1993. Museum of the History of Polish Jews, photo credit M. Jazwiecki

Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz (right) and Maciej Grzywaczewski (left) examine the plates of the Warsaw Ghetto photos taken by Macjej’s father, Zbigniew Grzywaczewski, who died in 1993. Courtesy of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, photo credit M. Jazwiecki

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – On Jan. 18, Warsaw’s Jewish history museum presented a group of photographs taken in secret during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, some of which have never been seen before, that were recently discovered in a family collection. The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews described the discovery of negatives with some 20 never-seen images as an important discovery.

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Main building of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, photographed in May 2014. On Jan. 17, museum officials announced the discovery of the oldest known runestone, which has been dubbed the Svingerud stone. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Vassia Atanassova, aka Spiritia. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Norwegian archaeologists find ‘world’s oldest runestone’

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Main building of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, photographed in May 2014. On Jan. 17, museum officials announced the discovery of the oldest known runestone, which has been dubbed the Svingerud stone. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Vassia Atanassova, aka Spiritia. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Main building of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, photographed in May 2014. On Jan. 17, museum officials announced the discovery of the oldest known runestone, which has been dubbed the Svingerud stone. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Vassia Atanassova, aka Spiritia. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Archaeologists in Norway said Jan. 17 that they have found a runestone which they claim is the world’s oldest, saying the inscriptions are up to 2,000 years old and date back to the earliest days of the enigmatic history of runic writing.

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Exterior of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, photographed in January 2021. On January 2, Egyptian officials said an ancient wooden sarcophagus that had been featured at the museum was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities realized it had been looted. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit WhisperToMe. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Looted ancient sarcophagus returned to Egypt from US

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Exterior of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, photographed in January 2021. On January 2, Egyptian officials said an ancient wooden sarcophagus that had been featured at the museum was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities realized it had been looted. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit WhisperToMe. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Exterior of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, photographed in January 2021. On January 2, Egyptian officials said an ancient wooden sarcophagus that had been featured at the museum was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities realized it had been looted. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit WhisperToMe. Shared under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

CAIRO (AP) – An ancient wooden sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Science was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities determined it was looted years ago, Egyptian officials said January 2.

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Pictured are drawings from an 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures, created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other notable measures. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers

New law restricts export of sacred Native American items from US

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Pictured are drawings from an 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures, created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other notable measures. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers

These drawings are from Jesse Walter Fewkes’ 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other cultural measures. Public domain image

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Federal penalties have increased under a newly signed law intended to protect the cultural patrimony of Native American tribes, immediately making some crimes a felony and doubling the prison time for anyone convicted of multiple offenses. President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act on Dec. 21, a bill that had been introduced since 2016. Along with stiffer penalties, it prohibits the export of sacred Native American items from the U.S. and creates a certification process to distinguish art from sacred items.

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