Antiquities & Archaeology

Indigenous tribes will co-manage Utah’s long-contested Bears Ears National Monument

The governance and size of the monument have been disputed for years, and Utah Republicans are still trying to block president Biden's 2021 expansion of its boundaries

Midwestern man charged for illegally excavating Indigenous artefacts

The man and others excavated a densely concentrated archaeological site in the Harry S. Truman State Park in Missouri

Looted Maya frieze once offered to the Metropolitan Museum will be fully restored

The elaborate temple relief, now held by the Museo Nacional de Antropología, was extracted from the Maya jungle in the 1960s and offered to the Met for $400,000

Archaeologists unearth sprawling Maya metropolis in the Yucatán

The discovery comes on the heels of the contentious Maya Train development in the area, one section of which was temporarily suspended this week

Mexican government opens public consultation on controversial Maya Train

The announcement follows protests claiming the Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has rushed the development of the touristic train connecting archaeological sites in the Yucatán

FBI repatriates smuggled artefacts, artworks and other objects to Peru

The returned objects include artefacts from the collection of amateur archaeologist Donald Miller, the subject of a high-profile raid in 2014

Iraqnews

Iraq Museum in Baghdad reopens after three-year hiatus

Treasure trove of ancient Mesopotamian heritage—ransacked after 2003 Iraq invasion—was closed during anti-government protests in 2019

Iraqnews

Sculptures vandalised by Isis return to ancient city of Hatra after restoration

Artefacts had been "smashed into pieces" by Isis militants when they occupied the Unesco World Heritage site as a training camp

Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo '99%' ready as contractor promises 'theatrical' Tutankhamun gallery

Egyptian government officials say the long-awaited antiquities museum near the Pyramids of Giza will probably open in November this year

Libyanews

Major exhibition in Libya aims to prepare for a surge of archaeological activity once political stability returns

As the two countries look to rekindle historical bonds, a new show shines a light on an archaeological partnership spanning more than a century

'End BP sponsorship of British Museum': 90 heritage professionals sign open letter against oil giant

Archaeologists and museum professionals "urge" institution to cut ties with British Petroleum company

Thousands of ancient burial sites and cultural artefacts discovered along new Mexican rail line

Indigenous groups have protested against the Maya train line long before archeologists identified artefacts in impact report

Italian mayor launches underwater excavation to find third Riace bronze

Town of Riace is planning a museum, while a new investigation hopes to confirm whether there are more ancient Greek statues to be found

Obsidian spirit mirror used by John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s court astrologer, has Aztec origins

Now housed in the British Museum’s Enlightenment Galleries, the mystical object used for occult investigations matches samples found in Mexico, researchers find

Antiquities trade should prepare for more government oversight

US Treasury Department issues a call for input on forthcoming regulation that aims to counter money laundering

German auction of Latin American antiquities goes ahead, but many works fail to sell

Ambassadors from eight countries—Mexico, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Peru—whose heritage was included in the sale launched a united front against it, with calls for Unesco to intervene

Mexiconews

Mexico attempts to halt German auction of Pre-Colombian artefacts

More than 70 works designated as national heritage are due to be sold in Munich on 21 September

Maya stone monuments to be installed in the Met’s Great Hall

The stelae, on loan from Guatemala, feature life-sized depictions of ancient Indigenous leaders

Looted 2,700-year-old bricks—discovered in Swiss warehouse—are returned to Iran

Before the discovery of the more than 50 painted blocks, “the richness of Mannaean civilisation had not been appreciated”, expert says

New York dealer arrested for selling ‘cookie cutter’ manufactured goods as authentic antiquities

Investigators found thousands of fakes, as well as tools and materials used to make them seem ancient, in rooms near Sadigh Gallery’s Fifth Avenue showroom

Protocols are already available to help save Afghanistan’s cultural heritage

In 2015, the Association of Art Museum Directors established a structure under which museums can act to protect cultural property in immanent peril

Monastery of powerful Anglo Saxon queen discovered in genteel Thames-side Berkshire village

Dig uncovers a wealth of objects, including jewellery probably worn by Queen Cynethryth, an influential female ruler likely to have been buried in the village

An ancient Roman road may lie beneath Venice’s lagoon, researchers say

Team using sonar technology have found evidence of structures and settlements on the seafloor

One of the world's first art objects? Tiny 51,000-year-old deer bone was decoratively carved by Neanderthals, new study reveals

Discovery contradicts commonly held belief that these archaic humans were incapable of creating aesthetic items

Archaeologists find ruins of vast Medieval Nubian cathedral in Sudan

Polish team used remote sensing techniques to detect the building, the largest of its kind in the region, as well as a possible tomb of an archbishop

Hoard of plundered ancient art—discovered by police in a Belgian dealer's home—is returned to Italy

The almost 800 rare archaeological artefacts are now on show at the Castello Svevo in Bari

Pressure mounts for Italy to buy Torlonia marbles—world's finest collection of Greco-Roman antiquities still in private hands

As a landmark exhibition in Rome draws to a close, government's plans for long-hidden group of ancient sculpture remain unclear

World’s oldest war memorial may have been identified in Syria

The White Monument at Tell Banat contains the bones of what are believed to be around 30 dead soldiers, posed as if they fell in battle

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Viking-age treasure: new insights into life 1,000 years ago

Plus, new proposals for the Fourth Plinth in London and Nike Air Force 1s

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'A vast underwater museum': Greece plans to open shipwrecks and other submerged heritage sites for visitors to explore

Experienced divers and casual bathers alike will gain access to ancient marine monuments, which remain where they were found on the seabed