2012 in archaeology

none 2012 archaeology science The year 2012 in archaeology involved some significant events. Explorations January - Discovery of a first-century farmhouse on the building site of the new stadium in the south of Marseille.http://www.laprovence.com/article/actualites/2231432/marseille-une-ferme-du-ier-siecle-au-pied-du-velodrome.html Marseille : Une ferme du Ier siècle au pied du Vélodrome 2013-02-28 Excavations June 6 - Excavators from Museum of London Archaeology announce that they have uncovered the remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch.Remains of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre discovered in Shoreditch Museum of London Archaeology 2012-06-06 http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/NewsProjects/CurtainTheatre.htm 2012-07-12https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/jun/06/shakespeare-curtain-theatre-shoreditch-east-lonfon Shakespeare's Curtain theatre unearthed in east London The Guardian London 2012-06-05 2012-07-12 Kennedy Maev Maev Kennedy August 24 - Philippa Langley in association with the Richard III Society, and Leicester City Council, engage University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), and announce that they have joined forces to begin a search for the site of Greyfriars, Leicester, burial place of King Richard III of England.Historic search for King Richard III begins in Leicester http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2012/august/historic-search-for-king-richard-iii-begins-in-leicester University of Leicester 2012-08-24 2013-02-04 2012-08-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20120827030633/http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2012/august/historic-search-for-king-richard-iii-begins-in-leicester deadhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-25/medieval-british-king-sought-under-car-park/4222264 Hunt for Richard III's remains under car park ABC News (Australia) 2012-08-27 2013-02-04 On September 5 the excavators announce that they have identified the church.Researchers find strong evidence for medieval church in Leicester where monarch was buried http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/august/greyfriars-project-2013-update-friday-31-august University of Leicester 2012-08-31 2013-02-04 2012-12-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20121218122830/http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/august/greyfriars-project-2013-update-friday-31-august deadSearch for Richard III confirms that remains are the long-lost Church of the Grey Friars http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/september/search-for-richard-iii-confirms-they-have-located-the-long-lost-church-of-the-grey-friars/ University of Leicester 2012-09-05 2013-02-04 2012-11-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20121124031216/http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2012/september/search-for-richard-iii-confirms-they-have-located-the-long-lost-church-of-the-grey-friars dead and on September 12 it is announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19561018 Richard III dig: 'Strong evidence' bones are lost king BBC News 2012-09-12 2013-02-04 a supposition confirmed in 2013.Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882 BBC News 2013-02-04 2013-02-04 October - Remains of substantial Mesolithic buildings are identified in Britain at Echline in Scotland,Scottish dig unearths '10,000-year-old home' at Echline https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-20376243 BBC News 2012-10-18 2012-12-27 Lunt Meadows at Sefton, MerseysideSignificant archaeological discovery confirms Environment Agency habitat restoration work http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/144344.aspx Environment Agency 2012-11-22 2012-12-27 and from new investigations at Starr Carr in North Yorkshire.Antiquity http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/086/ant0861004.htm 86 334 1004–1020 Substantial settlement in the European Early Mesolithic: new research at Star Carr Chantal Conneller December 2012 etal 10.1017/s0003598x00048213 162889280 subscription December - Archaeologists complete excavation of a 900-seat Athenaeum from the time of the Emperor Hadrian in Rome discovered during work on a Metro line at Piazza Venezia.Kington Tom Hadrian's hall: archaeologists finish excavation of Roman arts centre https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/26/hadrians-hall-roman-emperor-arts-centre The Guardian 2012-12-26 2012-12-30 Excavation of working-class back-to-back houses from the Industrial Revolution period at Chapel Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.Mike Nevell Excavating Engels https://archaeologyuos.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/excavating-engels/ archaeologyuos 2012-12-25 2016-11-16 2016-11-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20161116164658/https://archaeologyuos.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/excavating-engels/ dead Excavations at Holt Castle in Wales begin. Finds January The use of maize in Peru as early as 4700 BCE is confirmed.Study suggests ancient Peruvians 'ate popcorn' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16623473 BBC News 19 January 2012 2012-12-27 Evidence for early Mayan tobacco use is published.The detection of nicotine in a Late Mayan period flask by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods Dmitri V. Zagorevski Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman 10.1002/rcm.5339 22279016 Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 26 4 403–411 January 2012 2012RCMS...26..403Z Discovery that the Vikings grew barley in Greenland.Sybille Hildebrandt Vikings grew barley in Greenland http://sciencenordic.com/vikings-grew-barley-greenland ScienceNordic 2012-02-03 2012-12-27 February 17 - Alabaster colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III is discovered.Armenian archeologist finds colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III http://news.am/eng/news/93765.html News.am 2012-02-17 2012-06-25 March - Discovery of an inscribed doorjamb at Karnak giving the hitherto unknown titulary of pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose.Sébastien Biston-Moulin: Le roi Sénakht-en-Rê Ahmès de la XVIIe dynastie, ENiM 5, 2012, p. 61-71, available online. March - A 7th century grave near Cambridge in England provides an early example of the transition from pagan Anglo-Saxon to Christian burial practices.Anglo-Saxon Christian grave find near Cambridge 'extremely rare' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-17378845 BBC News 2012-02-16 2012-12-27 March 30 - In Georgia, archeologists report unearthing jars containing what they believe to be the world's oldest honey.Giorgi Lomsadze Report: Georgia Unearths the World's Oldest Honey http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65204 Eurasianet.org 2012-03-30 2012-06-25 May - The oldest Mayan astronomical calendar discovered so far, from the 9th century, is reported from Xultun.Maya art and calendar at Xultun stun archaeologists https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18018343 BBC News 2012-05-10 2012-12-27 May 9 - Archaeologists announce discovery on The Burren in Ireland of evidence of settlement from 6000 BCE.6,000-year-old settlement poses tsunami mystery Andrew Hamilton 2012-05-09 http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/6000-year-old-settlement-poses-tsunami-mystery-193230.html Irish Examiner Cork 2012-06-29 May 19 - The National Trust for Scotland announce that the first cursing stone to be found in the country, dated to circa 800, has been discovered on Canna.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18130259 'Cursing stone' found on Isle of Canna BBC News 20 May 2012 May 22 - The Bedale Hoard, a hoard of forty-eight silver and gold items dating from the late 9th to early 10th century AD is discovered in a field near Bedale, North Yorkshire by metal detectorists.http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11664045.Viking_hoard_revealed_in_all_its_beauty/ Viking Hoard revealed in all its beauty Northern Echo 12 December 2014 15 December 2014 June 25 - In the Channel Island of Jersey, the discovery of the Grouville Hoard of an estimated 30,000 – 50,000 Roman and Celtic coins by metal detectorists is announced.Roman and Celtic coin hoard worth up to £10m found in Jersey https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-18579868 BBC News 2012-06-25 2012-06-25 July Discovery of 15th century underwear at Lengberg Castle in Austria is confirmed.Deborah Basckin Underwear dating back to the 15th Century found in Austrian castle https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-19050150 BBC News 2012-07-30 2012-12-27Medieval lingerie from Lengberg Castle, East-Tyrol http://www.uibk.ac.at/urgeschichte/projekte_forschung/textilien-lengberg/medieval-lingerie-from-lengberg-castle-east-tyrol.html Universität Innsbruck 2012-07-23 2012-12-27 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160206041713/http://www.uibk.ac.at/urgeschichte/projekte_forschung/textilien-lengberg/medieval-lingerie-from-lengberg-castle-east-tyrol.html 2016-02-06 The wreck of the polar expedition ship Terra Nova is discovered off Greenland by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor.http://www.schmidtocean.org/story/show/826 Polar Expedition Vessel S.S. Terra Nova Discovered 2012-08-13 2013-02-04https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19288188 Scott's wrecked ship Terra Nova found off Greenland Paul Rincon BBC News 2012-08-16 2012-10-06 September - A beeswax filling is discovered in the cracked tooth of a Neolithic man in Slovenia. Beeswax as Dental Filling on a Neolithic Human Tooth Federico Bernardini PLOS ONE 7 9 e44904 10.1371/journal.pone.0044904 23028670 3446997 2012-09-19 2012PLoSO...744904B etal free October - In Jersey, the Trinity Hoard of Bronze Age tools and weapons is discovered.http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=501794 https://web.archive.org/web/20121129070441/http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=501794 dead 2012-11-29 News, Weather & Information for the Channel Islands - Bronze Age axe heads discovered channelonline.tv 2012-10-13 November - 2,400-year-old golden treasure near the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria.http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/pictures/121109-thracian-gold-hoard-treasure-bulgaria-science/ https://web.archive.org/web/20121113061329/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/pictures/121109-thracian-gold-hoard-treasure-bulgaria-science dead November 13, 2012 Thracian Gold Treasure Discovered in Bulgaria 2012-11-11 2018-07-15 National Geographic Washington, D.C. December Discovery near Canterbury, England, of a 1st-century Iron Age bronze helmet containing a bag of cremated human remains is announced.Iron Age bronze helmet found on Canterbury farmland https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-20594096 BBC News 2012-12-04 2012-12-27A Late Iron Age helmet found near Canterbury http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/trust-blog/late-iron-age-helmet/ Canterbury Archaeological Trust 2012 2012-12-27 2012-12-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20121211115150/http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/trust-blog/late-iron-age-helmet/ dead The site of the mediaeval burgh of the town of Cromarty in Scotland, dating to at least the 12th century, is identified by local archaeologists after storms erode sections of the shoreline.Ross and Cromarty Heritage https://www.rossandcromartyheritage.org/home/black-isle-communities/cromarty/cromarty-history/cromarty-medieval-cromarty/ Medieval Cromarty 2025-01-01 Undated Devunigutta Temple in India first reported.Greaves Laxshmi Rose https://theartofsouthasia.com/2019/01/14/devni-gutta-a-recently-found-6th-century-temple-in-telangana/ Devunigutta: A Recently Discovered 6th Century Temple in Telangana Art of South Asia 2019 Discovery of a rock inscription confirming the existence of Iry-Hor, the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name.P. Tallet, D. Laisnay: Iry-Hor et Narmer au Sud-Sinaï (Ouadi 'Ameyra), un complément à la chronologie des expéditios minière égyptiene, in: BIFAO 112 (2012), 381-395, available online Cypriot pottery vessels excavated at Yehud in the land of Canaan (modern-day Israel) subsequently discovered to contain the earliest surviving evidence of opium for use as a narcotic.Earliest evidence of opium use found in burial site in Israel Raffi Berg BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-62930429 2022-09-20 2022-09-20 Events February - Completion of whole genome sequencing on Ötzi (d. c.3255 BCE) identifies his paternal DNA with Sardinia.Oetzi the Iceman's nuclear genome gives new insights Jason Palmer https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17191398 BBC News 2012-02-28 2012-12-27 July - Mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu (Mali) are deliberately attacked by rebels, a war crime for which Ahmad al-Mahdi in 2016 pleads guilty before the International Criminal Court.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37438360 Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi: The vandal of Timbuktu BBC News 16 May 2017 2016-09-27 August - The Krak des Chevaliers is shelled by the Syrian Army.https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrias-ancient-treasures-pulverised-8007768.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrias-ancient-treasures-pulverised-8007768.html 2022-05-01 subscription live Syria's ancient treasures pulverised The Independent London 2012-08-05 2012-08-05 Robert Fisk Robert Fisk November - Study from the Kathu Archaeological Complex in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears about 500,000 years ago.J. Wilkins etal Evidence for early hafted hunting technology Science 338 2012-11-16 6109 942–946 10.1126/science.1227608 23161998 2012Sci...338..942W 206544031 Monte Morin http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/16/science/la-sci-hafting-spears-20121116 Stone-tipped spear may have much earlier origin Los Angeles Times 2012-11-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20121118111851/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/16/science/la-sci-hafting-spears-20121116 18 November 2012 dead Deaths July 19: Brian Dobson, British archaeologist notable for work on Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Army (b. 1931)Lives Remembered: Brian Dobson https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lives-remembered-brian-dobson-archaeologist-and-noted-authority-on-hadrian-s-wall-8002039.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lives-remembered-brian-dobson-archaeologist-and-noted-authority-on-hadrian-s-wall-8002039.html 2022-05-01 subscription The Independent 28 December 2016 3 August 2012 July 29: James Mellaart, British archaeologist. (b. 1925)James Mellaart https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9450610/James-Mellaart.html Telegraph.co.uk 16 May 2017 en 2012-08-03 See also List of years in archaeology References 30em Archaeology Category:Archaeology by year Category:2010s in archaeology