What Does First-century Roman Graffiti Say?

archaeologicalnews:

A facelift of the Colosseum in Rome that began last fall has revealed centuries of graffiti. Removing the accumulated grime and calcification, experts discovered layers of inscriptions on the section of a wall seen here—designs in red and faded gray from antiquity, and lettering in black left by visitors in modern times.

Built in the first century, the Colosseum may have held crowds as large as 50,000 people. Its numbered entrances and covered passages were designed to get spectators in and out quickly and to separate the high and mighty from the hoi polloi. 

The wall in this picture flanked a passage that led to an upper tier. There, women, children, and slaves perched in the cheap seats to watch the bloody spectacle of gladiators and wild beasts battling for their lives on the arena floor 60 feet (18 meters) below. Read more.

Oldest Roman Hairstyle Recreated for First Time

archaeologicalnews:

For the first time, the hairstyle of the Roman Vestal Virgins has been recreated on a modern head.

The Vestals were priestesses who guarded the fire of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, among other sacred tasks. Chosen before puberty and sworn to celibacy, they were free from many of the social rules that limited women in the Roman era. Their braided hairstyle, the sini crenes, symbolized chastity and was known in ancient texts as the oldest hairstyle in Rome.

“These were the six most important women in Rome with the possible exception of the emperor’s wife,” said Janet Stephens, the Baltimore hairdresser and amateur archaeologist who unraveled the secrets of the Vestals’ trademark braids.

Read more.

I saw this at AIA and it was seriously awesome! especially when she explained the Flavian hairstyles which I refuse to believe are real

Concerns grow over Pompeii’s damages

archaeologicalnews:

Part of the wall of a house in the ancient city of Pompeii collapsed November 30, raising fresh concerns about the state of one of the world’s most treasured archaeological sites. Officials said the wall was part of a 2,000-year-old house on the Vicolo del Modesto, in a section of the site that had already been declared off limits to the public for safety reasons.

About two square meters (yards) of the wall were involved in the collapse, which occurred after heavy rain storms in most of southern Italy.

The street where the collapse took place is located in an area of the dig that came to light in excavations in the 19th century. Read more.

Pompeii picspam part 2: pics with me in them! i’m the one w/ curly short hair and usually wearing green…..

so i’m back from the city of the dead!

Pompeii was incredible, i miss it dearly, and will try to post picspams like this in the future. I’m also back in San Francisco for one final year rather than backpacking Europe.

going to Pompeii!

the Via Consolare project accepted me!!!!!!!!

i’m going to work on a dig in Pompeii this summer for 5 weeks!

Pompeii wall collapses, despite new conservation initiative

archaeologicalnews:

A 2,000-year old wall surrounding an ancient villa at Pompeii has collapsed – just two weeks after the Italian government launched a 105 million euro project (£86 million) to save the precious archaeological site.

The Special Archaeological Superintendent for Naples and Pompeii confirmed the collapse of the red-frescoed wall next to an unidentified villa in an area already closed to the public.

The collapse of the wall is particularly embarrassing for the government as it follows several other incidents at the world heritage site in the past two year .

There is growing concern Italy’s ability to protect it from further degradation and the impact of the local Mafia or Camorra. Read more.

Greek antiquities reburied for lack of funds

archaeologicalnews:

ATHENS - Lack of funding in crisis-hit Greece has stymied archaeological research and leads experts to rebury valuable discoveries to better protect them, a Greek daily reported on Friday.

“Mother Earth is the best protector of our antiquities,” Michalis Tiverios, a professor of archaeology at Thessaloniki’s Aristotelio University, told Ta Nea daily on the sidelines of an annual archaeological congress in the city.

Tiverios recently persuaded the culture ministry to rebury a previously-unknown Early Christian basilica, found two years ago during work on Thessaloniki’s new underground railway.

“Let us leave our antiquities in the soil, to be found by archaeologists in 10,000 AD, when Greeks and their politicians will perhaps show more respect to their history,” said Tiverios, who advises the project. Read more.

mumbling-mice:

forrome:

thebygone:

ameliaelizabeth:

Petition: Stop Spike TV from looting our collective past

I’m serious guys, this is really fucking important.

Archaeological sites can only be dug up once. They want to go in with metal detectors, locate ‘treasure’, bulldoze it, and sell it. If there’s an artefact there, it’s a fucking site. It needs to be dug up properly. Everything needs to be documented. Even the colour of the fucking dirt needs to be recorded. Otherwise we lose all kinds of really valuable information and in doing so, we lose a bit of our human past. Our last tiny thread of connection with the people of the past is going to be bulldozed so Spike TV can make money.

Please please please please please go sign that petition. God knows if it will actually make a difference, but at least we’ll be making some noise. The past belongs to everyone: it’s not there so a select few get some dollars in their bank account.

I know this blog hasn’t been updated in forever and I apologise.

I will come back and write tongue-in-cheek retellings of ancient history soon.

But right now, there are still a fair number of you following, and weneed numbers. Spike TV is starting a series that follows a former wrestler and a salvage crew as they decimate sites for artefacts they can sell for profit. 

It’s horrible. They are going to do a hell of a lot of damage.

Please please sign this petition, you guys. The archaeological world and the world in general really needs this show to not happen.

All History/Anthropology/Archaeology blogs should reblog this ASAP.

This is really important, guys.

The amount of data we could lose should this show air and become popular is… terrifying, to be honest. There are things buried in the earth, right in your backyards, that could change the world.

And quite frankly, those artifacts they’re so keen on selling?

Greek museums to increase security after thefts

archaeologicalnews:

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s Culture Ministry says it is taking extra security measures at museums across the country after two major thefts in as many months netted antiquities andpaintings by 20th-century masters.

The ministry said Thursday that a task force set up to review security at museums and archaeological sites recommended increasing surveillance at archaeological museums, improving guard training and upgrading closed-circuit TV and fire detection systems.

Last Friday, two armed robbers broke into a museum in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, making off with 76 bronze and pottery artifacts dating from the 14th to the 4th centuries B.C. and a 3,200-year-old gold ring.

In January, burglars snatched paintings by Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian from the National Gallery in Athens. (source)