Archaeologists excavating the ancient Wari site of Pachacámac near Lima, Peru, have unearthed 73 intact mummy bundles, some of them with “false heads,” masks made of wood or ceramic. They date to the second half of the Middle Horizon period, between 800 and 1100 A.D., a period when the Wari Empire was expanding in territory … Read the full post →"73 intact Wari mummy bundles found in Peru"
The German Archaeological Institute’s excavation of the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa has unearthed a rare iron saw dating to the 3rd century B.C. It is the first saw from this period discovered in Anatolia. Professor Andreas Schachner, who leads the excavations, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the iron of the saw was thicker than … Read the full post →"2,250-year-old saw found in Hattusa"
Restoration of a 17th century portrait of Diana Cecil, great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth I’s chief advisor William Cecil, has revealed her original thin upper lip and high forehead, removing the overpaint that had artificially plumped her pucker and lowered her hairline. The conservation also revealed the signature of the artist and the date hidden in … Read the full post →"Diana Cecil’s lips restored to former thin splendor"
Four years after a late 13th century painting by medieval master Cimabue was discovered in the kitchen of an elderly woman in Compiegne and sold at auction to a private buyer for $26.6 million, Christ Mocked has officially entered the collection of the Louvre Museum. It’s been a long, strange journey for the tempera-on-panel depiction … Read the full post →"Louvre acquires $26 million kitchen Cimabue"
A hoard of medieval Silesian bracteate coins has been discovered in the city center of Szprotawa, western Poland. There are about 100-150 coins minted between 1250 and 1300 in the hoard. Some of the coins were found in cylindrical stacks, indicating they were carefully arranged before being placed in a textile bag with some loose … Read the full post →"Silesian bracteate hoard found in western Poland"