Roman era tombs unearthed in southern Syria

Archaeologists have been busy in southern Syria.  Wafa al-Audi, head of Bosra's Antiquities Department reports that five tombs dating back to the Byzantine era have been found in Daraa.  One yielded copper bracelets as well as one made of iron.

[Image: Roman ruins north of the citadel in present-day Basra.  Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

Four more Byzantine-era tombs were found in Jedia.  They, too, contained bracelets, coins and bronze shards.  Skeletal remains of a 20-year-old man were found in yet another Roman tomb unearthed in Selmine.



In a continuing excavation of the Nabataean Cathedral in Bosra, a French team has unearthed remains of a private bath in Trajan's Palace.

I'm afraid the article in DNA did not include any images of the artifacts recovered.

         

2nd century civilian Roman settlement unearthed near Mainz

It looks like more evidence of civilian Roman settlements in ancient Germania have been discovered near Mainz by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working on an expansion to the Weisbaden Army Air Field.A team of archaeology students and experts believe they have unearthed remnants of a Roman settlement from the second or third century near the construction site of an Army housing project.

The team, from nearby Mainz University, discovered a Roman coin, pieces of pottery, roof tiles, decorated bricks and 23 pieces of raw lead. The students also believe they have found the wall outlines of a building.

"If it’s from the second century A.D., it would be a civilian building and we didn’t expect this. We expected only military buildings," said Dr. Guntram Schwitalla, a district archaeologist in Hessen.

- More: Stars and Stripes

More evidence of Roman trade unearthed in India

"HYDERABAD: Historians have discovered a 25-ft high mound spread over 100 acres at Kondapur in Medak district which they presume to be a Buddhist stupa with myriad segments throwing light on the Buddhist link of the present Telangana region.

The Archaeological Survey of India has decided to excavate the site-dating to 200 BC- 200 AD -from April. If a stupa is unearthed as hoped by the ASI, this will be the first Buddhist site in Telangana, firmly establishing the belief among historians that this region too was part of the Satavahana empire that extended into present Maharashtra and that Kondapur, indeed, was a city that had a direct connection with Paithan...

Historians led by D. Jithendra Das, superintending archaeologist, ASI, Hyderabad Circle, who inspected the mound recently, found it to be “extremely fruitful” with its upper strata already yielding several antiquities without digging.

Nearly 2,000 coins and many coin-moulds, ornaments made of gold and semi-precious stones, beads and terracotta figurines have been recovered from the surface area itself.

A valuable find was a gold coin of the Roman king Augustus."

800-year-old Roman grave in Veroia, Greece

Four 1800-year-old Roman graves have been uncovered during road works in the northern Greek city of Veroia, the Culture Ministry said Friday.

A statement said two gold earrings, a copper coin and ceramic pots were also found at the site, were municipal workers had been laying paving stones and upgrading the water supply network.

The graves are believed to be part of a Roman cemetery discovered in the 1960s outside the city's ancient walls.