Oldest writing in the New World discovered

The Cascajal block is 36 centimetres wide and about 3000 years old (scroll down for a clear drawing of the symbols inscribed upon it) (Image: Stephen Houston)

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The custodians of India's archaeological treasures are to hire 10,000 attendants to patrol historical sites after an audit found that 34 monuments, including a cave temple, had "disappeared".

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The internet search giant, Google, says 14,000 images of the precious artefacts kept in Iraq's National Museum will be available online from early next year. Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said the world should see Iraq's rich heritage and contribution to culture.

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As thousands lined up to catch a glimpse of Nefertiti at the newly reopened Neues Museum here, another skirmish erupted in the culture wars.

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New Delhi, Aug. 2: A village in Kerala's Periyar delta may be the site of a port that has remained untraced for centuries although ancient Indian and Greek texts had described it as an Indian Ocean trade hub, researchers have said.

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China has condemned what it calls the illegal auction in Paris of two bronze artefacts taken from a Chinese palace 150 years ago. It has also warned Christie's auction house of unspecified consequences.

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In November 2008, a team of the Ephorate of Underwater and Coastal Antiquities, consisted by the archaeologist George Koutsoyflaki and the divers Athanasios Kouvela and Elias Kouvela, conducted preliminary research in an underwater marine area of Glyfada – Meses, N.

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They may not rank with the Pyramids or Sutton Hoo, but the traces of one Britain's best-known protest camps are being sifted by a team of archaeologists.

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Traces of a 3,000-year-old later Bronze Age round house have been found on the site of the new Bognor Regis Community College. A large extraction pit, containing a large amount of prehistoric pottery, was also uncovered in this area.

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It should have been a luxury break in the Caribbean sun. Having forked out £3,500 on a three-week holiday in St Lucia, retired policeman Anthony Griffin and his wife Pauline were naturally excited as their plane touched down.

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Melting alpine glaciers are revealing fascinating clues to Neolithic life in the high mountains. And, as a conference of archaeologists and climatologists meeting in the Swiss capital Berne has been discussing, the finds are also providing key indicators to climate change.

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Investigators in Russia say that tens of thousands of artefacts are missing from the country's museums. Russian authorities have compiled a list of 50,000 items either stolen or lost and they still have 400 museums to check.

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Seven people in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan have been sentenced to life in prison for stealing precious artefacts from monasteries and temples.

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Medieval treasures could be buried beneath the site of Preston's £750m regeneration project, it has been claimed. Archaeologists think there could be relics from the "medieval and post-medieval periods, and perhaps even earlier" under the 30-acre site.

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Three tombs believed to date back to the Hemiriate dynasty have been discovered in the al-Usaibyah area of the al-Sadda district of Ibb last week.

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Laden with delicacies such as stuffed dormice, peacock rissoles and sweet chestnuts, these plates and bowls would once have taken pride of place on a wealthy Roman's dining table.

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Piece by priceless piece, artefact by ancient artefact, Iraq is slowly recovering its Mesopotamian treasures looted by bandits, militiamen and soldiers after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

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As a son and his elderly parents learn their fate for faking artworks and artefacts worth millions of pounds over nearly two decades, we look at what their motivation was.

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The Polish government is demanding billions of euros in compensation from Germany for cultural artefacts which were stolen or destroyed during the second world war, after accusing Berlin of trying to rewrite history.

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A stash of ancient tools in India hints that life carried on as usual for humans living in the fall-out of a massive volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago.

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A collection of ancient clay artifacts is displayed yesterday after being seized at a man's home in Corinth, west of Athens. The unnamed man was arrested after authorities found 1,338 undeclared antiquities, including statues and vases, at his house.

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Beijing, July. 1 (PTI): Chinese archaeologists excavating a 2,500-year-old tomb in east China's Jiangxi Province have discovered a well-preserved body, many pieces of bronze, gold, silver items and porcelain and jade from one of the 47 coffins discovered.

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LATAKKIA, (SANA)— The Syrian-Belgian joint excavation mission in the coastal city of Latakkia, Tall Twaini site has recently discovered a bronze archaeological masterpiece on a shape of furniture stuffed with a lead material in addition to a bronze dagger dating back to the old b …

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BEIJING, June 8 -- Bracelet or door-knocker? Archeologists are proffering their guesses as to the function of a pair of rings excavated from the "Nanhai No.1" undersea archeological site, according to Guangzhou Daily reports.

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Experts from the Junta de Andalucía say the archaeological find unearthed in Torrenueva on Tuesday is Roman and not Phoenician, as was first put forward as a possibility.

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BUTWAL, June 3: Stone sculptures reflecting 'impressive art works' having immense historical significance are lying in abundance in the farmland of Bistol, a small village located seven kilometres west from the town of Butwal.

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