Dry weather reveals archaeological 'cropmarks' in fields

From the BBC

"Hundreds of ancient sites have been discovered by aerial surveys, thanks to a dry start to the summer, English Heritage has said.

The surveys show marks made when crops growing over buried features develop at a different rate from those nearby."

The Yorkshireman hoping to be Bavaria's Samuel Johnson

From the BBC

"You can tell it's a Catholic nation as soon as they swear at you," says the Yorkshire academic playing a key role in the preservation of Bavaria's national language.

Anthony Rowley is a thoughtful academic and says himself that he has a "cool and intellectual" approach to his subject. But there is no disguising his enthusiasm for Bayerische, Bavaria's regional language."

What have the Romans ever done for us (socks and sandals excepted)?

From the Indy

"They gave the world decent roads, indoor plumbing and some of the goriest spectator sports known to man, but now it appears that the Romans made a hitherto secret contribution to global civilisation by pioneering the wearing of socks with sandals."

Never really understood why socks and sandals is apparently a faux-pas though.

German WWII plan to invade Britain revealed in MI5 file

From The BBC

"German shock troops would have landed at Dover, dressed in British uniforms, if the Luftwaffe had won the Battle of Britain, newly-released files suggest.

Details of the plan to invade Britain emerge from a post-war debrief of a German soldier and are in an MI5 file made public at the National Archives."

Er, and i guess the Royal Navy would have just sat back of course? 

Archaeologists uncover 3,500-year-old Egypt city

From Reuters

"Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a 3,500-year-old settlement in one of Egypt's desert oases that predates earlier cities by a millennium, the Ministry of Culture said Wednesday.

The Yale University mission excavating in Umm El-Kharga Oasis, one of Egypt's five western deserts, located some 200 km south of Cairo, stumbled upon the find while working to map ancient routes in the Western Desert."

British warships sunk 90 years ago found off Estonian coast

From The Guardian

"The wrecks of three British warships sent to forestall a Soviet and German takeover of the Baltic states after 1917's October revolution have been found off the coast of Estonia.

Sonar searches by an Estonian minesweeper have located the remains of the cruiser HMS Cassandra and two Flower Class sloops, HMS Myrtle and HMS Gentian, in deep water near the island of Saaremaa."

Hong Kong and Macau in the Fifties

From Flickr Blog

"philroeder is currently publishing some wonderful photos from Hong Kong and Macau that his father took in the 1950s. He says:

"These photos were taken while my Dad served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. They were taken with a Zeiss Ikon Contessa, a rangefinder with a folding Tessar f2.8/45mm lens, and were shot on 35mm Kodachrome transparency film."

The 35 UNESCO World Heritage sites in France

From France 24

"The medieval city of Albi in south-western France and the French Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean were listed as World Heritage sites by UNESCO, the UN's cultural organisation, this year.

Of the total 35 World Heritage sites in France, 32 are cultural and three are natural. For more detail click on the name of the site on the map below."

(see link for map)

Archeological finds in Turkey

From Euronews

"Canadian archeologists from the University of Toronto are restoration [sic] and interpreting an Assyrian tablet from Southern Turkey. The tablet is 43cm long and 23cm wide with 650-700 lines of writing on it and according to archeologist Timothy Harrison, the tablet, dating from about 670 BC, is a treaty between a powerful Assyrian king and his weaker vassal states, written in formal language similar to that used in the Old Testament."

(Includes video)

RAF Museum Battle of Britain Podcasts

"The Royal Air Force Museum Podcast Series presents a monthly podcast on a variety of subjects, examining in detail elements of the history of the Royal Air Force and our sites at London, Cosford and Stafford. This year, our podcasts will focus on the history of the Battle of Britain, as we commemorate the 70th anniversary."

Lives of Victorian poor go online at National Archives

From the BBC

"Records detailing the lives of the Victorian poor, including those in workhouses, have been published online.

The National Archives project involves letters and reports passed between poor law authorities in England and Wales."

British Library shows up textspeak as soooo 19th century

From the Guardian

"If u really r annoyed by the vocabulary of the text generation, then a new exhibition at the British Library should calm you down. It turns out they were doing it in the 19th century – only then they called it emblematic poetry, and it was considered terribly clever."

Remembering the Battle of Britain

From the BBC

"While memories of the Battle of Britain remain fresh in the minds of The Few who flew, and the staff who supported them, veterans fear its significance could soon be forgotten by others."

The unseen photographs that throw new light on the First World War

From The Indy

"A treasure trove of First World War photographs was discovered recently in France. Published here for the first time, they show British soldiers on their way to the Somme. But who took them? And who were these Tommies marching off to die?"

Bone discovery pushes date for first use of stone tools back 1m years

From the Guardian

"The ancestors of early humans used stone tools to butcher animal carcasses nearly 1m years earlier than previously thought.


Archaeologists revised the date after spotting distinctive cut and crush marks made by stone tools on animal bones dating to 3.4m years ago..."

Robot to explore mysterious tunnels in Great Pyramid

From the Indy

"For 4,500 years, the Great Pyramid at Giza has enthralled, fascinated and ultimately frustrated everyone who has attempted to penetrate its secrets.

Now a robotics team from Leeds University, working with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, is preparing a machine which they hope will solve one of its enduring mysteries..."

Five millennia on, Iceman of Bolzano gives up DNA secrets

From the Indy

"Nearly 20 years after the dead man's head was found peeping from a melting Alpine glacier, investigators have finally seen fit to contact his relatives.

This doesn't indicate sloth on the part of the Italian authorities, but instead, advances in DNA technology that may lead scientists to living descendants of the South Tyrol's 5,300-year-old mummified man..."