The Secret Chambers of King Tut’s Tomb

Remember when Egypt experts were “90 percent positive” that there’s a secret hiding place in King Tut’s tomb, maybe Nefertiti’s burial chamber?

Oops. A third radar scan conclusively shows there are no additional chambers behind its walls.

More:

“In King Tut’s Tomb, Hope For Hidden Chambers Is Crushed By Science,” Vanessa Romo, NPR

“There’s No Secret Chamber Behind King Tut’s Tomb, Investigation Concludes,” George Dvorsky, Gizmodo

________________

Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-rC5

Image by Mike Licht (with apologies to Nicolas Reeves). Download copies here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Richard III’s Parking Lot

In 2013, Richard Plantagenet of the House of York, better-known as King Richard III, was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, where he had been since 1485. He was quite dead, so authorities made no attempt to collect 500-years-worth of parking fees.

The scruffy lot, site of Greyfriar’s monastery when Richard III entered long-term parking, was recently declared a national historic site. It’s convenient to the King Richard III Visitor Centre, which notes: “Despite King Richard III being known as the car park king, there is no parking available at the Visitor Centre.” Park at ye olde Holiday Inn or the Highcross Shopping Centre.

More:

“Leicester car park where Richard III was buried given protected status,” Maev Kennedy, The Guardian

“English Car Park Where Remains Of Richard III Were Found Declared A Monument,” Scott Neuman, NPR

_____________

Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-qS2

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

King Tut’s Secret Chamber

Scientists using ground-penetrating radar and x-ray specs have discovered two secret chambers in the tomb of ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun. One is thought to be be the burial place of Queen Nefertiti and the other is clearly King Tut‘s Man Cave:

Stone Age Murder

“Scientists at Binghamton University have analyzed fatal wounds on a 430,000-year-old skull, and believe that they have uncovered one of the oldest murder cases known to man. The skeletal remains in question were found at an archaeological site in Spain, where at least 28 other skeletons were also discovered.”

–“Wanted: 430,000-Year-Old Murder Suspect,” Dustin Petzold, Big Think

Barbarians Vandalize Ancient Artifacts

As you may have heard, barbarians have defaced cultural artifacts thousands of years old. That’s right Isis militants destroyed statues in the Mosul Museum American tourists carved graffiti on Rome’s ancient Coliseum. 

Related:

“Tourists break piece off priceless ‘Statue of the two Hercules’ in Italy while trying to take a selfie,” Louella-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, The Independent

____________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-l2c

Image (“Vandalized Statue of Rameses II, AKA Ozymandias, after David Roberts”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Prehistoric Cave Art

“A cave in southern France dubbed the ‘prehistoric Sistine Chapel’ has been added to Unesco’s World Heritage list.

The 1,000 drawings carved in the walls of the Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc, or Grotte Chauvet, are 36,000 years old and include mammoths and hand prints.

Cave experts only discovered it in 1994 as the entrance had been concealed by a rockfall 23,000 years earlier.”

— ‘”Prehistoric Sistine Chapel’ gets world heritage status,” BBC News

More:

“The Vallon-Pont-d’Arc cave: The world’s oldest decorated cave,” The Vallon Pont-d’Arc Cave Project

“La Grotte ornée Chauvet-Pont d’Arc,” UNESCO World Heritage Centre

____________

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p6sb6-jsD

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

The First Painters Were Cave Women

Penn State Professor Dean R. Snow has discovered strong evidence that most early cave painters were women. Dr. Snow measured hand stencils artists traced on painted walls at cave sites in France and Spain and concluded that three-quarters of these were made by women and not men, as had been previously assumed.

More:

“Were the First Artists Mostly Women?” Virginia Hughes, National Geographic News

_______________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-hDq

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Richard III: Overtime Parking

Richard Plantagenet of the House of York, better-known as King Richard III, was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, where he has been since 1485. He was quite dead, so authorities made no attempt to collect 500-years-worth of parking fees.

More:

“Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III,”  John F. Burns, New York Times

“Archaeologists unearth Richard III,” Geoffrey Brumfiel, Nature Newsblog

“Verdict issued on skeleton found under parking lot: It’s King Richard III,” Alan Boyle, NBC News

“The Humiliation of Richard III,” Amy Davidson, The New Yorker blog

“Richard Crookback,” Sarah Knight and Mary Ann Lund, Times Literary Supplement 

“Richard III Mania: Understanding a Kingly Obsession,” A.R. Williams, National Geographic News

“England Buried King Richard III Under a Parking Lot; Digs Him Up Like ‘Our Bad,’” Caity Weaver, Gawker

_____________

Short link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-fP5

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

The Lunch Box of Priestess Henutmehyt

When Egyptian Priestess Henutmehyt packed it in circa 1250 B.C., she packed a lunch. A lunchbox found in Ms. Henutmehyt’s tomb contains four whole ducks and joints of goat meat (before you ask: no Twinkies). There wasn’t Saran Wrap or Tupperware back then, so the goodies were mummified, just like the lady herself.

More: 

“The Lunch Box of Priestess Henutmehyt, Her Eternal Workers, & Her Final Demise,” Diana Buja’s Blog

_____________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-eSE

Image (“The Lunch Box of Priestess Henutmehyt, after the Temple of Kalabsha”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Cat Discovers Ancient Roman Tomb

Mirko Curti’s cat was still pussyfooting around his Rome neighborhood at 10:00 PM. Mr. Curti and a friend ran down Via di Pietralata after it and followed kitty into a grotto, where they found a 2,000-year-old tomb piled with bones. Good thing the pet wasn’t a bone-chewing puppy. The tomb is said to date from between the 1st century BC and 2nd centuries AD.

More:

“Cat discovers 2,000-year-old Roman catacomb,” Tom Kington, The Guardian

________________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-eLW

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine