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The Berg Growth

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You desire most what you can’t have. Berliners have it all: world class museums, night clubs, parks, lakes, the sea at a two hour drive - the only thing impossible for flat Berlin remains a veritable mountain; which doesn’t mean we can’t have one… when Berlin’s senate called for ideas in an architectural competition for Berlin’s famous Tempelhof airport we seized the opportunity.

At the time Tempelhof enjoyed unprecedented public attention due to the public row over its future use that had even led to a plebiscite. Our proposal to just imagine and pretend the most beautiful of all mountains on the site of the “mother of all airports” instead of adding another mediocre housing project might be rejected by grey administrators, but would fascinate many people as much as it fascinated us. We speculated on The Berg’s potential to emancipate from the competition to become a topic in its own right.

VIA «The Berg»

The interventions mainly concerned the plaster and the Basilica's columns, which were starting to show cracks.

Walls and columns have been restored to their old form adding material in nearly invisible ways, as in the case of the access steps to the building which were restored using mortar lime.

The Basilica is one of the highlights of any visit to the popular archaeological site.

Built in the second half of the second century BC, it was used for the administration of justice as well as for trade negotiations.

The magnificent building has a rectangular plan with three aisles, a pitched roof supported by central columns and half columns from the top of the walls, where original decorations are still visible.

In the back of the Basilica is the court, which can be reached by wooden stairs.

Visitors will have access to the Basilica only through the side entrance of the building.

Source: AGI [July 29, 2015]

Indeed, with his black hair, curled form, and bared teeth, the ancient canine has stood ready for almost 2,000 years to discourage intruders from setting foot in the Domus of the Tragic Poet, supported by the famous inscription 'Cave Canem' or 'Beware of the Dog'.

Now, this universal symbol of the city that was preserved under the ash of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD has been restored and returned to the public eye in the archaeological remains of Pompeii.

Years of rain, mud, dirt and neglect were gradually cleaned away to bring him back to public viewing just in time for the dog days at the end of July.

The work on the mosaic canine is just one in a series of measures aimed at restoring and protecting Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for future generations, said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

In a post on his Twitter feed, he wrote: "Offered to the public the splendid new staging of Cave Canem". "(At) #Pompei, every day a proud step forward," wrote the minister.

The canine mosaic is now protected beneath a transparent cover designed to allow full public viewing of the mosaic mutt, with his great sense of movement as well as the realism and attention to detail that has made it one of the world's best known of the Pompeian masterpieces. Other restored works as well as extended tourist routes through the archaeological site should also be offered soon, officials suggested.

Work has been continuing at Pompeii, which for decades was neglected and even plundered due to slack security and poor protection.

At some points, the United Nations even threatened to withdraw its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation unless adequate money was invested to restore and protect Pompeii.

But, slowly things seem to be turning around.

In March Pompeii's largest house - Villa dei Misteri, famous for its frescoes of the cult of Bacchus - reopened after a two-year restoration and a three-month closure for work on its paving.

"We have behind us a year of extraordinary work," Franceschini said at that time.

"We have closed three work sites while another 13 have been opened, nine contracts have been started and we have hired 85 people". Almost precisely one year earlier, Franceschini pledged the Italian government would catch up on delays in restoring the Pompeii archaeological site and treat completing the ambitious 105-million-euro Great Pompeii Project as a "national challenge".

"The challenge of Pompeii is a challenge for the nation," Franceschini said, reiterating the importance of the Great Pompeii Project, aimed at safeguarding the unique site.

The European Commission, involved in funding the project, has insisted that the restoration work must be completed by the end of 2015.

There is some urgency.

In April 2014, heavy rains led to several reports of collapsed walls at the Pompeii site, soon after UNESCO warnings that the miraculously preserved ancient city could "completely fall apart" and lose its world heritage status unless urgent action was taken.

Source: ANSA [July 21, 2015]

Known as tumuli, the burial mounds are the only remnants of the Thracian civilisation that inhabited the Balkan peninsula from the 2nd millennium BC to the 3rd century AD.

The accidental discovery of a tomb in 1944 revealed that the earthen structures were in fact manmade and that the burial monuments hidden within contained intricately crafted treasures.

Experts believe there are more than 15,000 of these tombs in Bulgaria, a tenth of them in the so-called Valley of the Thracian Kings near the central town of Kazanlak.

Many of the tombs have been looted, but a collection of surviving gold, silver and bronze objects are being shown at the Louvre museum in Paris until July 20.

Of the 1,500 tumuli in the valley, "only 300 of them have been excavated so far and about 35 revealed such rich burial monuments," said Kazanlak archeologist Meglena Parvin.

EU funds have been used to restore a handful of tombs that have been opened to public view, but most remain shut because of a lack of money for repairs.

"I feel sad that they are left like that. I hope that more money will come and we can restore and open them," Parvin said.

The Thracians were a people of horse and cattle breeders, metal miners and goldsmiths who are believed to have had no alphabet of their own and left no written records.

They believed in the afterlife and the immortality of the soul, and buried deceased rulers with their horses, dogs, weapons, drinking cups and even playing dice.

The kings were considered sons of the great goddess Mother Earth and the burial rites were highly symbolic, Parvin explained.

"When he finishes his journey in this world, the king must return to the womb of his mother. That is the reason why we think that they built these artificial mounds around their funeral structures," she said.

In addition to the treasures, the bushy tumuli also conceal a variety of exquisite burial monuments.

Built from huge granite blocks or bricks, they consist of a corridor and one or more chambers, with each revealing its own meticulous design and ornamentation.

"No two tombs are alike," Parvin noted, leading the way through the antechamber of the tomb in the Shushmanets mound.

Inside, a slim column helps support the vaulted ceiling of the burial chamber, the walls of which are adorned by seven half columns.

The Ostrusha tumulus nearby contained a sarcophagus-like chamber hewn from a single granite block thought to have weighed 60 tonnes.

Its ceiling contains traces of drawings of people, animals, plants and geometric figures. The remains of six other rooms surround the burial chamber, none of which have been restored as yet.

The most famous tomb in the valley is the Kazanlak tomb, which was the first to be unearthed during World War II and has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979.

The original is closed to visits to protect its fragile murals, which depict a funeral procession and a horse race, but visitors can view a replica right next door.

The site draws large crowds but the tourism revenue has not been converted into conservation funds, said Sofia-based archeological expert Diana Dimitrova.

"It is a pity that in Bulgaria somewhere the link is cut and the money from tourism does not go to restorations and archeological excavations," said Dimitrova, whose late husband, archaeologist Georgy Kitov, excavated most of the tombs in the Kazanlak valley and christened it the Valley of the Thracian Kings.

Dimitrova pointed to the three-chamber tomb of King Seuthes III which provided the pieces for the Louvre exhibition as an example of the problem.

A hit among foreign tourists in the years after it opened to the public in 2005, the tomb has been temporarily closed this summer while awaiting funds for emergency repairs.

"The Thracians built these splendid monumental structures to last forever," Dimitrova said.

"We cannot just uncover them and leave them like that."

Source: Diana Simeonova | Source: AFP [July 17, 2015]

The excavation, led by a team of American and Canadian archaeologists from the American Institute of Roman Culture, is bringing back to light an upper-class Roman home, or domus, from the fourth century A.D, as well as 2,000 year-old mausoleum, both located in Ostia's Parco dei Ravennati.

The site had been closed during the winter but when archaeologists visited it a few days ago, they got a nasty shock.

"“When we re-opened the dig site we found that some serious damage had been done,"” the team of scholars told Il Messaggero.

But this was not just everyday vandalism. The number '666', the widely recognized symbol for the Antichrist, had been carved into the site numerous times and the area was littered with birds' feathers and the remains of bonfires. “

In addition to the spooky remnants of occult rites the site was also full of junk.

“"During the winter people had been sleeping out here and had left all sorts among the ruins,”" the archaeologists said.

Bottles were strewn across the ruins and the vandals had even removed some iron poles, perhaps as part of some mysterious ritual.

Source: The Local [July 10, 2015]

The Byzantine Bath of the Upper Town, on Theotokopoulou Street in Ano Poli, will be inaugurated in early July, 75 years after it was closed.

The 800-year-old facility has been fully restored in a project that took four years to complete and will be open not just to the public for visits but also to cultural associations and groups to stage events.

For the inauguration, the internationally acclaimed performance artist Ulay, who will be honored at the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, will present his interactive performance “Code of Conduct” from July 1-4 (4-8 p.m.)

While the marble sinks and European-style baths that have been salvaged from among the facility’s early-20th century fittings are no longer in use, the site continues to offer valuable insight into the personal hygiene habits of all the different people who made use of it through the ages. The Byzantines, for example, bathed in still water, while the Ottoman preferred running water.

The bathhouse was built some time between the late 12th and early 13th century, at a time when the 11th-century tradition of bathhouses was seeing a revival. Known later as Koule Hamam, it operated all the way up until 1940. Despite numerous changes and renovations, as well as abandonment during World War II and the scars of a series of strong earthquakes in 1978, its Byzantine roots are still apparent in its layout and architectural elements.

It is the biggest and most intact Byzantine-era bathhouse among a handful that have survived in Greece and the only one in Thessaloniki, according to the supervisors of the restoration project, Fani Revythiadou, an architect and restorer, and Constantinos Raptis, an archaeologist at the Thessaloniki Ephorate of Antiquities.

While it survived collapse thanks to significant structural supports put in place by the former 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and a shelter protecting its exterior, it did not escape the construction boom of the 1960s and is now sandwiched between apartment blocks.

It is, nevertheless, an excellent example of the art of restoration and an important part of any tour taking in the secular monuments of Byzantine-era Thessaloniki and the bathhouse tradition that flourished mainly in Ottoman times, stresses the head of the Ephorate, Stamatios Hondroyiannis.

Source: ekathimerini [July 04, 2015]

The actual laser modeling is done by mounting a laser from a tripod and shooting the gallery, taking time to measure the distance between the scanner and every point it hits. Each one of these points represents a distance — by mapping millions of points from a single location, historians can measure how the building expands and contracts during the day, as well as how it shifts over longer periods of time. By combining the point cloud data generated by the laser scanner with on-site photographs taken at the same time, Tallon has created extremely accurate models of the underlying structure and design of the cathedral, and identified points where the cathedral’s masons either deviated from the original plan or paused work to allow the ground to settle.

Tallon’s research, for example, has found that the Gallery of Kings — the massive, three-doorway facade that dominates one side of the cathedral, had shifted almost a foot out of plumb. Researchers had previously suspected that work had stopped on the area for up to a decade, and this new work suggests why that might have occurred. The masons, realizing that the building was shifting in the thin, sandy soil, halted progress to give the ground time to settle and resumed a decade later.

Other findings from Tallon’s work include data that shows the internal columns of Notre Dame don’t align perfectly, and that workers likely incorporated existing structures in the area as part of the cathedral rather than tearing them out altogether. The flying buttresses, which were often thought to be a later addition to the architecture, were likely installed from the very beginning to counterbalance the effect of the vaulted ceilings (which tended to force the walls outward). External support from flying buttresses would push the walls inward, counterbalancing the vaults. The walls of Notre Dame have scarcely moved since they were constructed — a testament to the exquisitely balanced and counterbalanced supports.

National Geographic has a full update on the process and technology used to create the laser point models and a discussion of the work done at Notre Dame and other Cathedrals. Laser and LIDAR-assisted mapping has become more prominent in recent years, thanks to its ability to show us where long-buried structures or archaeological remains may still exist. Thermal maps and subtle gradation variations can also show remnants of mankind’s activity in an area, even when shifting sands or jungle terrain has obscured the more obvious visual reminders. Human buildings and structures absorb heat differently than surrounding terrain even when buried, which gives us a window into the past when conventional methods or other records come up short.

Author: Joel Hruska | Source: Extreme Tech [June 24, 2015]

"The fact of the matter is that physical weathering, deterioration and damage to marble and other architectural stones present a serious problem for the preservation of sculptures, monuments and buildings," said Luzin.

David: A sculpture made from Carrara marble

Before its relocation in Galleria dell'Accademia, David, the "Giant", was  symbolically displayed in the political heart of Renaissance Florence, the Piazza della Signoria. Over a period of almost three centuries, the statue was exposed to the action of weather, historical events and inappropriate restoration works. These coexisting factors prevented the appropriate preservation of a masterpiece that, already at the time of its creation, was regarded as challenging by many artists—due to the presence of taroli, imperfections of the marble.

Today David is in a highly stable condition but still presents a contemporary scientific challenge from a conservation point of view. Researchers are monitoring marble cracking of the 4.3 metre David with a system of sensors that record vibrations, rotations and environmental conditions. [1] Conservationists monitor the sculpture because it is thought that even small mechanical impacts and small temperature variations are detrimental to marble.

Geologically marble is formed by the alteration (metamorphism) of limestone under high temperature and high pressure. The metamorphic process causes a complete recrystallization of the original rock into an interlocking mosaic of calcite and/or dolomite crystals with very specific mechanical behaviour.

Carrara marble, the stone used by Michaelangelo in sculpting David, was  one of the most popular types of marble in the world because of its beauty and high lustre. For centuries it was quarried from the Apuan Alps in Tuscan Italy.

The popularity of Carrara marble was due in part to the wide range of varieties available (statuary, flowered, veined, brecciated, bardiglio, etc.), to the constancy of its quality, scarcity of defects, large size of single blocks that could be extracted, excellent physical and mechanical characteristics, and long-lasting strength and beauty." [2]        

However the suitability of marble from the Carrara area of Italy for buildings and artworks has been questioned because of 'spectacular bowing behaviour' of marble slabs on numerous modern buildings including the Amoco building in Chicago and the Grand Arche de la Defense in Paris.

A study of Carrara marble by a group of investigators led by Luzin have confirmed that microstresses caused by temperature variation and the thermo-mechanical properties of the marble itself help explain the deterioration. Co-investigators are Dimitry Nikolayev of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Moscow and Siegfried Siegesmund of theUniversity of Göttingen in Germany.

The investigators were interested in the different environmental conditions that influence marble deterioration and had to reproduce factors known to be important to the process of deterioration. Temperature effects were among those known to cause mechanical stress.

Luzin and collaborators used non-destructive neutron diffraction to confirm that thermally-induced microstress from a single thermal exposure can cause microcracking in the marble and therefore be responsible for weathering and deterioration of the marble [3].

"Neutron diffraction is a useful tool and a non-destructive method to investigate the texture, phase composition and spatial and orientation dependence of strain in a bulk marble sample," explained Luzin.

Although the commercial use of statue-grade Carrara marble is no longer allowed, an exception is made for restoration works and scientific research. Freshly cut marble from a quarry in Carrara, Italy was used for the testing.

"Although not easy, stress measurements in geological materials, such as marble are feasible and provide valuable characterisation," said Luzin.

He explained that the challenges are related to the need to measure two phases with sufficient accuracy. It is necessary to use a large gauge volume because of the coarse grain microstructure and longer measurement time in order to capture very delicate effects of microstress in calcite and dolomite—which are also very weak neutron scatterers.

The neutron high resolution powder diffractomter, Echidna, determined the amount of each phase in two cube samples of marble. In one sample, the dolomite comprised a volume fraction of 28 per cent  and in the other it was 18 per cent, which is not surprising given the highly visible non-uniform distribution of dolomite in the marble.

The Kowari diffractometer was used to produce pole figures, graphical representations that   capture the preferred crystallographic orientation (texture) of the calcite and dolomite. "A weak crystallographic texture in both phases was confirmed in the neutron diffraction experiment," said Luzin.

The stress experiments were carried out using the Kowari diffractometer in a specially designed sample environment unit in order to control temperature. "We took measurements of the calcite and dolomite phases at room temperature and at 80° C."

Using a technique to measure the stiffness of an elastic material, the researchers were able to accurately measure the accumulated damage after a thermal exposure that could be unambiguously attributed to microcracking.

"Evidently, a significant change in microstress caused micro-cracking in the marble sample due to temperature changes," said Luzin.

Although exaggerated temperature might not be relevant to real daily and seasonal temperature variation, smaller, more numerous natural temperature variations during long periods of time might result in even greater accumulated damage. There are historical examples of sculpture which deteriorated into a pulverised state after a century of exposure to temperature variation.

"We have a responsibility to try and preserve great works of art and architecture with non-destructive techniques and nuclear technologies give us the means to do this. Hopefully David and other important monuments can be preserved in the centuries to come," said Luzin.

References

[1] Giovanni Pascale, Filippo Bastianini, Roberto Carli, "Monitoring Marble cracking in the David by Michaelangelo Proc. Art'11, 10th Int. Conf. on Non-Destructive Investigations and microanalysis for the diagnostics and conservation of cultural and environmental heritage, Florence, April 13th-15th, 2011, NDT44

[2] Stephano Merlino Paolo Orlandi "Carraraite and zaccagnaite, two new minerals from the Carrara marble quarries: their chemical compositions, physical properties, and structural features" American Mineralogist, Volume 86, pages 1293–1301

[3] 310.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.777.148. Luzin, V; Nikolayev, D and Siegesmund, S, Temperature Induced Internal Stress in Carrara Marble, Mater. Sci. Forum 777, 148-154 (2014)

Source: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) [June 22, 2015]

Thassian marble, considered in antiquity to be one of the purest marbles, is being used in the restoration which aims to reproduce the theatre's original appearance.

To this end, sections of the koilon (the auditorium), the parodoi (the side entrances between the skene and the audience) and the skene are being redressed in the famous marble.

The restoration is being financed by a private quarrying company.

Source: ANA-MPA [June 20, 2015]

Some of the tetradrachms were minted around the years 359-336 B.C., with the obverse depicting the Macedonian King with a wreath on his head. According to the executed expert report, the seized coins belonged to a collective trouvaille.

Pursuant to the Law on Cultural Heritage, each one of the tetradrachms is of extraordinary cultural, financial and scientific value.

The monetary hoard was intended for export through a courier company, which had to transport it from Bulgaria to USA. The coins were concealed inside three routers. All the tetradrachms were seized and an Administrative Offence act was drawn up.

The details of the case are now being clarified.

Source: Bulgarian Customs Agency [June 20, 2015]

“This is part of our common heritage,” said Glafkos Constantinides, a member of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot cultural heritage technical committee, during a press preview on Wednesday and continued: “Our heritage comes from the past but also what we expect to build in the future.”

Greek and Turkish Cypriot politicians followed a tour at the renovated “Othello Tower” the same day after accepting the invitation of the Slovak Ambassador in Cyprus, Oksana Tomova, in the context of the Slovak Republic’s initiative “Dialogue for Peace.”

The restoration, that cost over 1 million euros, was carried out by the bicommunal technical committee, the European Commission and the United Nations Development Program Partnership for the Future (UNDP-PFF).

“Othello Tower” will be open to visitors in July 2 hosting a marvelous performance of the Shakespearean drama, in which young and talented Greek and Turkish Cypriot actors will take part.

Author: Katerina Papathanasiou | Source: Greek Reporter [June 16, 2015]

On June 15, 1215, in fields by the banks of the River Thames at Runnymede to the west of London, England's King John agreed to the demands of his rebelling barons and accepted the Magna Carta, Latin for "Great Charter", which for the first time placed the monarch under the rule of law.

In the centuries since, it has taken on huge global significance, becoming the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights, the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Three of its 63 clauses still remain on Britain's statute book.

"What happened in these meadows eight centuries ago is as relevant today as it was then. And that relevance extends far beyond Britain," British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

He said the document had changed the world, inspiring people from the founding fathers of the United States and Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

"Its remaining copies may be faded, but its principles shine as brightly as ever," Cameron told the ceremony attended by the queen, other royals and global figures including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Magna Carta came into being during a period of great political upheaval in England with conflict between King John, his nobles and the English church.

It was essentially a peace deal to address the problems of the day and was annulled by the pope shortly afterwards. But updated versions, which included two original clauses regarded as pivotal in establishing the rule of law, were re-released regularly by or on behalf of succeeding monarchs.

The clauses read: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

"To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."

Originals Exist

Four original copies of the document, written on a single sheet of parchment about the size of A3 paper, still exist.

At Monday's ceremony, a new art installation was unveiled and the American Bar Association's Magna Carta Memorial, which was erected at the site in 1957, was re-dedicated.

U.S. Attorney General Lynch said the charter was a bedrock to free societies globally, while Cameron also used the anniversary as a political opportunity to underpin his plan to overhaul human rights laws and reduce the influence of Europe.

However, John Dyson, chairman of the Magna Carta Trust, said King John and the barons would have been bemused that the document would garner such interest hundreds of years later.

"They would surely have been astonished that over time Magna Carta came to be regarded as one of the most important constitutional documents in our history," he said.

"They would not have believed that barons' lists of demands would become a symbol of democracy, justice, human rights and perhaps above all, the rule of law for the whole world. But that is exactly what has happened."

Author: Stefan Wermuth | Source: Reuters [June 15, 2015]

The experienced auction house Sotheby’s did not let the opportunity go to waste and around a week ago they put six clay figurines on sale. The figurines depict the ancient Greek god Attis, the adolescent consort of Kybele, who was self-castrated to escape her jealousy. The terracotta dates back to the 2nd century BC and according to the auction house, it originated from Amphipolis.

“This cannot be confirmed,” noted Greek Alternate Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis, on the occasion of the repatriation of the illegally exported Hermes statue head, which was set for sale by Bohnams. The alternate minister’s statement was confirmed by an experienced archaeologist, who believes that the figurines are not characteristic of Amphipolis and therefore there is no reason for their connection with the region.

Experts might not find any connection to the Amphipolis tomb, however, the fact that Sotherby’s sold the six terracotta figurines for $8,750 shows that the public is still fascinated by the discovery of the ancient Greek monument.

Author: Ioanna Zikakou | Source: Greek Reporter [June 11, 2015]

The historic underground tunnel linking the Colosseum with its gladiatorial training barracks could be restored thanks to a $1.7 million donation from the Kuwait government.

“We are in talks with Kuwait, one of several countries that has shown an interest in investing in Rome’s cultural heritage,” a spokesman for the city council said.

The Ludus Magnus, also known as the Great Gladiatorial Training School, is located a few hundred yards from the arena and was the largest facility in Rome.

Thousands of gladiators lived and trained there for more than 650 years until the middle of the 6th century when gladiatorial shows came to an end.

Today, the ancient remains lie neglected and littered with rubbish.

The Kuwaiti donation will renovate the area where gladiators would suit up for battle and collect their weapons before walking through the torch-lit tunnel and out into the arena, in scenes famously recreated in Ridley Scott’s blockbuster Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.

“For many years the area around the gladiator school has been rather forgotten, and impossible to visit. We hope to make some significant improvements and restructure the whole zone,” a city spokesperson said.

First built by Emperor Domitian between 81 and 96AD, the barracks were at least two storeys high and included a practice area where gladiators would put their combat skills to the test.

Remains of the site were discovered in 1937 but are thought to be from the second phase of building during Emperor Trajan’s reign from 98AD.

Author: Kate Mead | Source: Yahoo News [June 05, 2015]

Days earlier, strangers had also desecrated the “prison” found on the southwest of the Acropolis, where Greek philosopher Socrates, credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, was sent to be punished after found guilty of impiety and corrupting the morals of Athens’ youth.

Greek Culture Ministry maintenance staff rushed immediately and, after a lot of effort, managed to remove the graffiti.

The acts of vandalism took place after the Greek Council of State gave the green light for a free 24-hour access to those wishing to visit various archaeological sites.

The monument guards fear that if the sites remain open 24/7, they will soon host several other acts of vandalism due to staff shortage.

Author: Katerina Papathanasiou | Source: Greek Reporter [June 03, 2015]

Heritage Malta said the shelter, consisting of a metal frame with a specialised fabric stretched over it, will protect the temple remains from the sun and rain, effectively breaking the heating/cooling, wetting/drying cycles which harm the soft globigerina limestone. This will ensure long-term effective protection from the major causes of deterioration.

The protective shelter is the last of a long list of activities on this site which included conservation-related studies, three-dimensional documentation, archaeological excavations as well as the building of a new and extended walkway which is fully accessible.

The works were carried out as part of the Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project, partly funded through European Regional development Funds (Cohesion Policy 2007-2013), which also included major works on conservation and visitor facilities at Ġgantija and St Paul's Catacombs.

Source: Times of Malta [June 03, 2015]

The worn copper alloy figurine of the Roman god of commerce and travellers was found by Dave Cooper, member of the York and District Metal Detecting Club, in a field near Selby.

Mercury was one of the more popular Roman gods, with similar examples already found across the country giving an insight into the religious practices of Roman Britain.

The figurine is the 1,000th find this year recorded by the North and East Yorkshire Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), a government-funded project to encourage the voluntary recording of archaeological objects found by the public.

Rebecca Griffiths, PAS Finds Liaison Officer at York Museums Trust, said: “Every year thousands of archaeological objects are discovered by members of the public.

“While the majority of these come from metal-detector users we also see many finds from people field-walking, gardening, renovating houses and even those out walking particularly inquisitive dogs.”

Source: The Yorkshire Post [June 01, 2015]

The tourist, aged 60, was walking past the ill-fated pithos when she tripped, grabbing onto the Minoan treasure as she fell.

The museum guards did not know who to attend to first – the priceless artefact or the tourist.

The tourist was rushed to hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.

As for the pithos, archaeologists are now trying to piece it back together… But will it ever be the same?

Source: Greek Ministry of Culture [May 27, 2015]

Italy has been on a campaign to recover looted artifacts, using the courts and public shaming to compel museums and collectors to return them, and has won back several important pieces.

The items returned Tuesday were either spontaneously turned over to U.S. authorities or seized by police after investigators noticed them in Christie's and Sotheby's auction catalogues, gallery listings, or as a result of customs searches, court cases or tips. One 17th-century Venetian cannon was seized by Boston border patrol agents as it was being smuggled from Egypt to the U.S. inside construction equipment, police said.

U.S. Ambassador John Phillips joined Italy's carabinieri art police to show off the haul. It included Etruscan vases from the Toledo Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 17th-century botany books from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a manuscript from the 1500s stolen from the Turin archdiocese in 1990 that ended up listed in the University of South Florida's special collections.

"Italy is blessed with a rich cultural legacy and therefore cursed to suffer the pillaging of important cultural artifacts," Phillips said, adding that Interpol estimates the illicit trade in cultural heritage produces more than $9 billion in profits each year.

Police said several of the items were allegedly sold by Italian dealers Giacomo Medici and Gianfranco Becchina, both convicted of trafficking in plundered Roman artifacts. After the objects were recovered, Italian authorities confirmed their provenance.

Police stressed that most collectors and museums willingly gave up the artifacts after learning they had been stolen. The Minneapolis museum director contacted the Italian culture ministry after reading an article about one suspect piece, police said.

Phillips praised the collaboration between Italy's police and U.S. Homeland Security and border patrol agents. He also said the U.S. had returned more than 7,600 objects to over 30 countries and foreign citizens since 2007.

Author: Nicole Winfield | Source: The Associated Press [May 26, 2015]

The 30cm-high bronze statuette is of a young man in worship, his hands folded across his chest, making it a unique find of its type throughout the island of Crete.

The figure has long hair, a gold-plated belt and remains of gold leaf on its calves and left knee.

At the base is a peg indicating that it was probably set on a pedestal in an area of worship. Archaeologists at the Lasithi Antiquities Ephorate have dated the statuette to the 16-15 century B.C.

The case was cracked as a result of a coordinated Hellenic Police (ELAS) operation that culminated in the arrests of four men, two aged 35 and two aged 41 years old.