ArchaeoFeed

A driver accidentally drove through one of the the ancient Nazca lines in Peru, a UNESCO World Heritage site, damaging parts of the geoglyphs.

Initial assessment of archaeological relics’ destruction by ISIS terrorists in the recaptured ancient city of Hatra, Iraq, shows that the damage by the terrorists was lesser than feared.

Ancient Ennedi cave paintings found in Sahara region of Chad have been vandalised with graffiti. The 8000-years-old artwork has been covered with names in French and Arabic.

As government forces drive ISIS terrorists out of Mosul and nearby Nimrud the scale of destruction to one of Iraq’s greatest archaeological treasures comes to light. Once magnificent masterpieces of art are now broken into pieces and bulldozed flat. Moreover, the crippled Mosul Dam threatens to flood vast populated areas filled with archaeological sites with water from the Tigris river.

As archaeological investigation at the Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang province of Laos continues, archaeologists create a three-dimensional virtual reality to document and allow for remote exploration of the mysterious site.

Chinese archaeologists discovered a complete canal system in the ancient capital of Shang Dynasty, Yin. The site located in Yinxu, Henan Province is dated to 1600-1046 BC.

ISIS extremists destroyed the 2,500-year-old temple of Nabu in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and released footage of the incident. The final scene in the ten-minute video shows the Great Pyramid of Giza near Egypt’s capital, Cairo and a fanatic pledging to blow up ancient sites built by the infidels.

National Heritage Board of Poland (Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa) launched a website dedicated to present the national heritage monuments that are listed in the official registry. The website www.zabytek.pl contains entries on over 24000 monuments, that date from Stone Age to 20th cent.

Polish archaeologists continue work in Palmyra, the ancient city in Syria that was recently freed from ISIS forces’ occupation. A short visit of the experts from Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of University of Warsaw focused on securing artefacts for transport and gathering pieces of shattered sculptures and wall decorations.

A team of Peruvian and Japanese archaeologists discovered a new geoglyph on the Nazca desert at Pampa de Majuelos. It depicts a 30-meter-long figure drawn upon the arid plateaus that would represent an animal with a long tongue.

During a recent conference on “The Presence of Polish Archaeologists in Near East” Syrian officials of the Department of Antiquity invited archaeologists from Institute of Archaeology at University of Warsaw to come to the ancient city of Palmyra which has been recently freed from occupation of the Islamic State troops.

In Iraqi, Syria and Libya, ISIS has systematically destroyed more than 30 major historic churches, mosques and tombs – some of which date as far back as the seventh century.