At www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR20100903023 ... the Washington Post, September 3rd, has a post on the Amazon rainforest - in this instance the section that is in Peru, below the Andes mountains. It begins by saying the idea that the Amazon Basin is a virgin environment unblemished by the excesses of human behaviour, and in fact barely touched by a human footprint, seems to be wrong.

At www.theartnewspaper.com September 2nd ... BP aims to drill some exploratory oil wells off the Libyan coast and this has alarmed French archaeologists who are worried about some ancient sites that exist below and at sea level in what was once Cyrenaica and Tripolitania in the Classical period - quite apart from anything that may date from before the Grreks and Romans. For example, the ancient town and harbour of Apollonia is now submerged, under 5m of water.

New Scientist 2775 August 31st ... the discovery of what looks like a scalpel at an Early Bronze Age settlement at Ikiztepe in Anatolia (dating between 3200-2100BC). The site consisted of single storey houses made of logs of wood with a courtyard and oven in front. The scalpels are thought to have been used for surgery rather than ritual as some skeletons found in a graveyard exhibit evidence of skulls being cut open as if with a surgical instrument.

Associated Press September Ist ... archaeologists have found an Iron Age temple in Jordan believed to date back to the Kingdom of Moab. Figurines and clay vessels have been found but the nature of the rituals has yet to be defined. The interest in the site will arise when evidence of contact with the outside world is found - Assyria, Egypt, the Babylonians etc. It seems Moab was primarily located laong the spine of mountains and hills on the eastern side of the Dead Sea - not far from modern Amman (which presumably has a link with ancient Ammon).

At www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/NoticialImprimir.aspx?id=313896 August 27th ... we have a Peruvian account of American research that has previously appeared in book form. The theory was advanced that the Nasca Lines may have a connection with water. Basically, he is saying the geoglyphs may be a sort of map of underground water sources in a harsh and very dry environment - a desert. The pattern of straight lines is located in a small area 37 miles long and just one mile wide.

See www.culture24.org/ August 30th ... (subsection, history and heritage - some pictures of the dig). The bank surrounding the ploughed out henge has managed to preserve some deposits in the ditch, by infill, and in the bank itself. These display evidence of burning before deposition suggesting a burnt offering, an apparently universal activity, or a cremation (another phenomenon not unrelated). The henge lies at the head of a shallow valley facing NE.

New Scientist August 27th ... acoustic experiments were made at Stonehenge in an attempt to determine how it may have sounded during prehistoric gatherings. Once the acoustic fingerprint was discovered it could then be analysed - or modelled, using an anechoic chamber (at the University of Salford), and afterwards, convoluted. Due to reflection of sound from the stones, reverberating sounds such as drumming become deeper - as if the bass had been turned up and the tenor turned down.

Daily Mail August 25th ... the remains of a prehistoric child were found in an underwater cave in Mexico - dating back over 10,000 years ago. Scientists hope the skeleton will offer clues to ancient human migrations into the Americas - from SE Asia. Anthropologists think the body was placed in the cave in a funeral ceremony performed when the sea level was some 488 feeet lower than it is today.

BBC News August 26th ... archaeologists in South Africa have unearthed stone points dated 64,000 years ago which were probably arrow heads. A microscope revealed traces of blood and bone. They also found traces of a glue - a plant based resin that was possibly used to fasten them to a wooden shaft. The use of bows and arrows as a hunting tool enabled humans to kill from a distance where previously they had used ambush tactics in order to move in with spears at fairly close quarters.

At http://yalealumnimagazine.com/issue/2010_09/egypt3841.html ... Yale University press release. Egyptologists have barely explored the western desert, an expanse the size of Texas, but recently some intrepid archaeologists with links to Yale have been tracking back along old roads crossing the desert, fanning out from Thebes. They have found a lost pharaonic complex with administrative buildings, garrison quarters, and small industries and workshops.