Stop Press

A compilation of media articles on heritage topics. Obviously, these all reflect the viewpoints of the authors.

30 April

• Discover Agra beyond the Taj - in electric rickshaws (With Image)
  Business Standard, India
  The city of the Taj is now aiming to show visitors that there is much more to it than the monument to love. Discovering Oriental Agra, a new tourist circuit, will showcase not just heritage monuments but also the city's culture, cuisine and industry - in electric rickshaws.

29 April

• Van Gogh’s True Palette Revealed
  The New York Times, United States
  “The Bedroom,” Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 painting, with its honey-yellow bed pressed into the corner of a cozy sky-blue room, is instantly recognizable to art lovers, with his signature contrasting hues. But does our experience of this painting change upon learning that van Gogh had originally depicted those walls in violet, not blue, or that he was less a painter wrestling with his demons and more of a deliberate, goal-oriented artist?

• Robot Finds Mysterious Spheres in Ancient Temple
  Discovery News, United States
  Hundreds of mysterious spheres lie beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, an ancient six-level step pyramid just 30 miles from Mexico City.

• Old Sanaa, an endangered UNESCO heritage site
  Art Daily
  To see Sanaa's Old City for the first time is like "a vision of a childhood dream world of fantasy castles," a visitor once remarked, but official neglect and unruly construction are threatening to destroy that magic.

• Restored Sungnyemun gate to open to public this week
  Yonhap News Agency, Republic of Korea
  The ancient gate destroyed in an arson attack more than five years ago will officially open to the public with a ceremony this weekend, officials said Monday.

• Fire Destroys Danish Museum, Collection Saved
  ABC, United States
  A fire blazed through The Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen on Sunday, destroying large parts of the building but most of the collection was saved, museum officials said.

28 April

• 'Thessaloniki's Pompeii' saved from relocation
  Global Post, United States
  Archaeologists in Greece's northern metropolis Thessaloniki were already overjoyed in 2006 when a 2,300-year-old avenue was found during construction work on the city's new underground rail network.

• Egyptians grab ancient land of the pharaohs to bury their dead
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Archaeologists fear for pyramid sites as illegal building gathers pace in wake of Arab spring.

• Lost city of Heracleion gives up its secrets
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  A lost ancient Egyptian city submerged beneath the sea 1,200 years ago is starting to reveal what life was like in the legendary port of Thonis-Heracleion.

27 April

• Relics to be returned
  China Daily, China
  Two imperial bronze sculptures that were looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace will come home later this year, thanks to the donation of the French art-collecting Pinalt family, China's top heritage authority announced on Friday afternoon.

• Van Goghs back home in renewed Amsterdam museum ahead of its reopening next week
  Art Daily
  Masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh, including his world-famous "Sunflowers" and "The Potato Eaters", have been returned to the Amsterdam museum that bears the Dutch artist's name ahead of its reopening next week.

26 April

• Did an Earthquake Destroy Ancient Greece?
  Discovery News, United States
  The grand Mycenaens, the first Greeks, inspired the legends of the Trojan Wars, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." Their culture abruptly declined around 1200 B.C., marking the start of a Dark Ages in Greece.

• Robot discovers three possible chambers under Mexico's pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan
  Art Daily
  A small robot has discovered three possible burial chambers under a temple in Mexico's pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, a find that may reveal secrets about funeral rituals in the ancient site.

• Stairway to heaven: Famous 13th-century black-and-white striped Siena cathedral opens roof tour
  Art Daily
  Secret passages high up in the rafters of Siena Cathedral have opened for the first time after decades of restoration, offering a rare view of midnight-blue ceilings and the Tuscan panorama.

25 April

• New Evidence Unearthed for the Origins of the Maya
  National Geographic, United States
  Civilizations rise and fall, often in dramatic fashion. Their origins, though, are subtler and tend to be overlooked or poorly understood.

• Cultural heritage a casualty of war
  The Global Post, United States
  Below are the main cases of destruction of cultural heritage during conflicts, following the collapse of the minaret of the ancient Umayyad mosque in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday

• Is the Prado’s Colossus by Goya after all?
  The Art Newspaper, United Kingdom
  It is one of the most famous paintings in the Prado—but since the end of 2008, The Colossus has been attributed to a follower of Goya, not the master himself. Now, a study from a professor at the University of Zaragoza argues that the work may be by Goya after all.

• Stolen tapestry returns to Spain after 34 years
  France 24, France
  A 16th century religious tapestry which police suspect was stolen by one of Europe's most prolific art thieves from a cathedral in Spain in 1979 has returned to the country after an odyssey that took it to five countries.

• Minaret of ancient Aleppo mosque destroyed
  Al Jazeera, Qatar
  The minaret of Aleppo's ancient Umayyad mosque has been destroyed, Syrian state media and activists say, with the regime and the opposition blaming each other.

• Woman finds lost maps of British India on London street
  The Times of India, India
  An Indian woman walking around in the streets of London last year, browsing through piles of books and artifacts on the roadside chanced upon a huge cache of quaint maps and thought she could cut them up into table mats and coasters.

• Mexican archaeologists study cave paintings found in the northeast part of Argentina
  Art Daily
  A hill in the northeast part of Argentina that holds various cave paintings, which was considered to be a sacred place before the Incan conquest of the region in the XV century, was identified by Mexican investigator Luis Alberto Martos Lopez from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), as part of an archaeological salvage.

24 April

• The curious tale of the stolen books
  BBC, United Kingdom
  London's Lambeth Palace, home to the Archbishop of Canterbury, also has a leading historic book collection. The palace's library was the scene of a major crime that stayed undiscovered for decades.

• Alexander Graham Bell’s voice identified in 130-year-old wax audio recording at Smithsonian
  The Washington Post, United States
  Researchers have identified the voice of Alexander Graham Bell for the first time in some of the earliest audio recordings held at the Smithsonian Institution.

• Stonehenge Is Looking for a General Manager
  TIME, United States
  Wanted: senior management candidate for high-profile job in Wiltshire countryside. Must love rocks. Druids OK.

23 April

• Space archaeologists want artifacts preserved
  NBC, United States
  When it comes to preserving history, a group of archaeologists and historians are hoping to boldly go where no archaeologist has gone before.

• Making of Europe unlocked by DNA
  BBC, United Kingdom
  DNA sequenced from nearly 40 ancient skeletons has shed light on the complex prehistoric events that shaped modern European populations.

• Mexican Temple Discovery Hints At Ancient Human Sacrifice
  The Huffington Post, United States
  A newly discovered temple complex in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, reveals hints of a specialized hierarchy of priests — who may have committed human sacrifice.

• Restoring Sea and Romance to a French Treasure
  The New York Times, United States
  A dispatch in The New York Times in August 1944 described the view of Mont-St.-Michel that American soldiers saw, “racing their tanks across the Norman hills into Avranches.” Built “for war as well as worship,” the writer noted, the Mont “seems to float on the sea as gracefully as a ship under full sail, catching all the changing colors of the clouds.”

• Mexican archaeologists investigate a group of petroglyphs found in northern Veracruz
  Art Daily
  Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) are registering and investigating a group of petroglyphs that were found at the foot of Cerro del Sombrete, municipality of Alamo-Temapache, in the northern part of Veracruz, among which the representation of a priest or “wise man” stands out. Its symbolism and iconography are linked to the art of “counting time”; this had not been previously registered in the Huastec region.

22 April

• 66 ancient skeletons found in Indonesian cave
  NBC News, United States
  Talk about your archaeological jackpots: Researchers in Indonesia have reportedly discovered the 3,000-year-old remains of 66 people in a cave in Sumatra.

• Romanian Skeletons Found Buried Holding Hands In Cluj-Napoca
  The Huffington Post, United States
  Romanian archeologists excavating a graveyard in Cluj-Napoca have discovered the skeletons of a man and woman buried hand in hand, seemingly bound in a endless embrace of love.

• Remains of woman buried 4,500 years ago are discovered near Windsor
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  The remains of a woman who was buried almost 4,500 years ago has been discovered in a quarry in Berkshire wearing a precious necklace of gold beads – a particularly rare find from a woman's grave, when even her near contemporary, the Amesbury archer, the richest burial of the period ever found, only had two small gold hair ornaments.

• Titanium bars brace restored Venetian bell tower
  Gazzetta del Sud, Italy
  After five years' of restoration work, including the insertion of titanium bars to provide stability, Venice's iconic campanile is finally safe from collapse. The work on the 99-metre high campanile, or bell tower, which looms over Piazza San Marco was finalized just in time for the great celebrations on April 25, which is the feast day of Saint Mark the Evangelist.

• Land famine threatens Delhi's colonial heritage of Lutyens architecture
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Indian authorities propose high-rise homes in area of 1920s and 30s bungalows designed by Edwin Lutyens

21 April

• Church art theft impoverishing Albanian culture
  Deutsche Welle, Germany
  Since the end of communism in Albania, an increasing number of priceless works of art have been stolen from Orthodox churches. Now, a theft that left historic frescoes destroyed has finally caused an uproar.

• Doomed Domes
  The Hindu, India
  At a time when the magnificent structures at the Qutb Shahi tomb complex are crumbling, conservationists feel it is illogical to stay the repair work. The authorities should wake up from slumber and sort out the legal tangle so that conservation work is taken up at the earliest.

• 102 cultural relics sites damaged
  Xinhua, China
  A total of 102 cultural relics protection units had been damaged after Saturday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan in southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

20 April

• Didcot dig: Petition calls for history trail
  BBC, United Kingdom
  More than 300 people have signed a petition for a history trail on the site of a dig which found evidence of 9,000 years of human habitation.

• Despite Stonehenge find Malta’s temples still oldest oldest
  The Times of Malta, Malta
  An archaeological excavation has revealed that human beings occupied Stonehenge in 7,500BC not in 2,500BC, as was previously believed, but Malta’s prehistoric temples remain the oldest in the world.

• Restoration project
  The Cyprus Weekly newspaper, Cyprus
  The first restoration project, carried out by the bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, the mosque in Denia village, in Nicosia district, close to the buffer zone, will be handed over on Thursday.

19 April

• Victorian roof 'graffiti' found at Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A team carrying out repairs on the Victorian roof of an Oxford museum have discovered 150-year-old "graffiti".

• Stonehenge 5,000 Years Older Than Thought
  Discovery News, United States
  Excavation near Stonehenge found evidence of a settlement dating back to 7,500 BC, revealing the site was occupied some 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.

• United States returns stolen 16th century Virgin Mary and baby Jesus tapestry to Spain
  Art Daily
  A 16th century religious tapestry stolen from a Spanish cathedral in 1979 and sold at auction three years ago for $369,000 was returned to Spain on Wednesday by the US customs service.

• AL wants coherent heritage protection and urban planning bills
  Macau Daily Times, China
  The Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 3rd Standing Committee urged the Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM) and the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) to coordinate with each other on the draft laws for Cultural Heritage Protection and Urban Planning, to make sure that clauses that are relevant to each other are also consistent .

18 April

• Digital Public Library Of America (DPLA) Launches To Public
  The Huffington Post, United States
  After two and a half years of planning, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), the U.S.'s first public online-only library, opened its doors today -- or at least was made publicly available on the Internet.

• The Hoo Peninsula's secret role in World War I
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Aerial archaeology has revealed a network of World War I trenches on the Hoo Peninsula which could rewrite military history.

17 April

• Restoration of Ottoman-era Tower House in Gjirokastra, Albania, is completed
  Balkans.com, Cyprus
  Adventures in Preservation (AiP) completed the Babameto House restoration project in the World Heritage Site of Gjirokastra, Albania. Hands-on training and work sessions organized and led by Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) were instrumental to the overwhelming success of the project. Volunteers from Adventures in Preservation joined students from Albania and other Balkan countries in learning and applying the traditional skills needed to complete this major building conservation project.

• One million euro stolen gold egg recovered near French-Swiss border during a routine roadblock
  Art Daily
  A bejewelled golden egg stolen four years ago in Geneva and worth an estimated one million euros ($1.3 million) has been recovered by French police near the Swiss border, police said Monday.

16 April

• Stonehenge project compares Neolithic building methods
  BBC, United Kingdom
  An experiment is under way in Wiltshire to find out more about Neolithic building methods.

• Possible Tomb of Chinese Tyrant Uncovered
  Live Science, United States
  Archaeologists have found a tomb in eastern China that may be the grave of the notorious Emperor Yang of Sui, according to news reports.

• Mayan Calendar End Date Confirmed
  Discovery News, United States
  Carbon-dating of a structural beam from a Guatemalan temple confirms that the Mayan Long Count calendar did end on December 2012, leaving no room for further doomsday prophecies and miscalculations claims.

• Lessons in Sustainability and Solidarity From Ancient Mesopotamia
  National Geographic, United States
  On the first day of the conference, after the initial presentations on the rise of ancient Chinese civilization, National Geographic Explorer Fred Hiebert, took the stage to introduce experts in ancient Mesopotamia, the “Land Between the Rivers,” in modern day Iraq, Syria, southeast Turkey, and northwestern Iran.

15 April

• Home sweet (temporary) home in Brazil
  The Art Newspaper
  One of the most highly anticipated biennial surveys of emerging art in São Paulo will do away with artists for its 33rd edition (5 October-15 December). Instead, the Panorama da Arte Brasileira will pit itself against the very museum that is hosting it: the exhibition will comprise architectural proposals for a new home for the Museu de Arte Moderna, the building in Ibirapuera park that has been home to Panorama since it began 44 years ago.

• Mummy Genetics Study May Be Prelude To Widespread Genome Mapping Of Ancient Egyptians
  The Huffington Post, United States
  A University of Adelaide researcher is dispelling misconceptions about heritage by demonstrating how heritage-listed buildings can be conserved through sustainable adaptive re-use.

• Preserving today's heritage for tomorrow
  Phys-Org
  A University of Adelaide researcher is dispelling misconceptions about heritage by demonstrating how heritage-listed buildings can be conserved through sustainable adaptive re-use.

• An Argentine Tradition Threatens to Crumble With City Architecture
  The New York Times, United States
  As Concepción Martínez, her husband and two daughters pulled into the last subway station here, cheers and clapping erupted from the throngs of people, some wearing turn-of-the-20th-century dress, waiting on the platform.

• Presents from the past
  The Hindu, India
  April 18 is celebrated as World Heritage Day. Take time to value the importance of tradition and remember that these rich gifts of the past are our legacy.

14 April

• 600-year-old skeleton mystery at Fermanagh crannog site
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Mystery surrounds a 600-year-old skeleton found at the site of an archaeological dig in County Fermanagh.

• Italy's Royal Palace of Caserta facing chronic neglect
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Instead the huge palace, built by the Bourbon rulers of Naples to rival the more famous chateau outside Paris, has been branded a disgrace, amid a drastic fall in tourist numbers and accusations of chronic neglect.

• In Little Italy, Saving the Past by Rebuilding It
  The New York Times, United States
  The 19th-century brick building that houses the Italian American Museum in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan radiates an Old World intimacy, with its tin ceiling and its proximity to shops that still sell slices of pink prosciutto and balls of snow-white mozzarella.

• Museums can be cool too
  The Indian Express, India
  IT took Neil MacGregor 100 objects from the large collection of the world's first public museum — the British Museum — to bring history to life in the celebrated book, A History of the World and the BBC Radio series of the same name. Director of the British Museum, MacGregor is currently in India to conduct a trainee leadership programme as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Culture (India) and British Museum.

• Pompeii and circumstance
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  When I heard that "a new Pompeii" had been found under a London building site, I wondered why I'd spent all that money visiting the original.

13 April

• In Hong Kong, Cantonese opera takes pride of place
  Los Angeles Times, United-States
  The intricate craftsmanship of gem-studded jewels has dazzled the Supreme Court-appointed experts who have been documenting the treasures of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

• Panel to seek National Geographic Society’s help for inventory of temple treasure
  The Hindu, India
  Cultural Exchange: A push to preserve the centuries-old art form has placed renewed focus on the opera as the city's only home-grown cultural touchstone.

• Australian researchers develop 3D mapping system to protect cultural heritage sites
  Xinhuanet, China
  Australian researchers developed a mobile laser 3D mapping system called Zebedee to preserve some of the country's oldest and most culturally significant heritage sites, CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, announced on Saturday.

12 April

• The Hangman's Tale: Archaeologists Dig into History of Execution
  The Spiegel, Germany
  For years, few were interested in unearthing what lay beneath old gallows and scaffolds. But, in Germany, growing interest in "execution site archaeology" is throwing much light on how the executed died and the executors lived.

• Ancient undersea stone structure was made by man; what was it?
  Los Angeles Times, United-States
  Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a mysterious stone monument weighing 60,000 tons and rising 32 feet above the bottom of the Sea of Galilee.

• Cash-strapped Italy to rent historic monuments to raise funds amid crisis
  RT, Russian Federation
  Italy plans to rent out its cultural heritage to the highest bidder in an effort to pay off some of its trillion-euro debt. The government initiative will hand over castles and monasteries to luxury hotel chains for development as niche resorts.

• Temple demolition plan sparks controversy
  Xinhuanet, China
  A local government's planned demolition of part of a Buddhist temple in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, ostensibly to support its application for UNESCO World Heritage status, has sparked controversy among the public over its validity.

• Terahertz scanner reveals hidden fresco at Louvre
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A technique based on the same kind of technology used in airport scanners has revealed images beneath a fresco held at the Louvre museum in Paris.

• Drought blamed for demise of Mayans
  NBC, United States
  The Mayan apocalypse may have been a bust, but a century-old understanding of the calendar that spawned the doomsday rumors appears to be right on.

11 April

• The conservator’s dilemma at Denver's Clyfford Still Museum
  Boulder Weekly, United States
  Preserving the Clyfford Still collection raises questions about artist intent and viewer experience.

• Mosque conversion raises alarm
  The Art Newspaper
  One of the most important monuments of late Byzantium, the 13th-century Church of Hagia Sophia in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, which is now a museum, will be converted into a mosque, after a legal battle that has dramatic implications for other major historical sites in Turkey. Many in Turkey believe that the Church of Hagia Sophia is a stalking horse for the possible re-conversion of its more famous namesake in Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya Müzesi).

• Lost Parmigianino drawing found tucked inside a Bible
  The Art Newspaper
  The Huntington Library and Art Collections had thought the work missing for 30 years

• A first in Latin America: Tools of archaeology used to excavate Mexico mammoth
  Art Daily
  A team of paleontologists in Mexico City say they have recovered the remains of an ancient mammoth, using methods typically employed by archaeologists -- a first in Latin America.

• An unusual ritual bath (Miqwe) from the Second Temple Period was revealed in Jerusalem
  Art Daily
  In an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted in the Qiryat Menachem quarter of Jerusalem, prior to the building of the Ora–Massua road at the initiative of the Moriah Company, a rare ritual bath (miqwe) was exposed that dates to the late Second Temple period.

• Local “cultural treasures” not exploited by cinema industry
  Macau Daily Times, China
  Despite abundant cultural resources, the local government is failing to put them to good use, local scriptwriter Xu Xin asserts. Mr. Xu’s statement was made during the Third Cultural Industry Development Forum at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) yesterday.

10 April

• Easter Ross's Nigg cross-slab restoration completed
  BBC, United States
  Conservation work on an intricately carved Pictish stone from Easter Ross has been completed.

• Earliest fish stews were cooked in Japan during last ice age, experts say
  NBC, United States
  In the chilly final years of the last ice age, hunting communities in Japan may have served up warm fish stews of salmon and shellfish for dinner.

• Northampton Castle dig reveals Saxon past
  BBC, United Kingdom
  A "rare" Saxon brooch, a medieval harness, pottery and animal bones are among items found by archaeologists at Northampton's medieval castle site.

9 April

• Archaeologists find 10,000 objects from Roman London
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Scores of archaeologists working in a waterlogged trench through the wettest summer and coldest winter in living memory have recovered more than 10,000 objects from Roman London, including writing tablets, amber, a well with ritual deposits of pewter, coins and cow skulls, thousands of pieces of pottery, a unique piece of padded and stitched leather – and the largest collection of lucky charms in the shape of phalluses ever found on a single site.

• Academic unearths new lead to fabled Babylon gardens
  The National, United Arab Emirates
  The two were often confused in biblical and classical writings, such as the Old Testament book of Judith which calls Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Assyrians and said he lived in Nineveh, when in reality he lived in Babylon. Arab writers describe an earlier ruler, Sennacherib, as being based in Babylon when he actually ruled from Nineveh.

• Mysterious Structure Discovered Beneath Sea of Galilee
  Live Science, United States
  A giant "monumental" stone structure discovered beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee in Israel has archaeologists puzzled as to its purpose and even how long ago it was built.

• Italian police recover painting by Marc Chagall stolen from United States yacht more than a decade ago
  Art Daily
  A painting by Marc Chagall stolen from a US yacht moored in Italy has been recovered more than a decade later in a private collector's home, Italy's art theft police division said on Monday.

8 April

• Judas Gospel Authentication Relied On Ink Of Ancient Egyptian Documents, Scientists Say
  The Huffingon Post, United States
  A long-lost gospel that casts Judas as a co-conspirator of Jesus, rather than a betrayer, was ruled most likely authentic in 2006. Now, scientists reveal they couldn't have made the call without a series of far more mundane documents, including Ancient Egyptian marriage licenses and property contracts.

• Patent medicines' study X-rays old-time remedies
  BBC, United Kingdom
  The long-lost secrets of "patent medicines" - products that claimed health benefits in the era prior to regulation - are being revealed.

• Mexican archaeologists find what may possibly be a pre-hispanic dock in Veracruz
  Art Daily
  A containment wall, four worship rooms, a circular structure and stucco floors, of almost 1,000 years of age, were recently found by archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History at the pre Hispanic site of Tabuco, Veracruz. The importance of the finding resides in the possibility of it being an antecedent of the Tuxpan port.

7 April

• Our films, our heritage
  New Straits Times, Malaysia
  WHEN the National Heritage Act 2005 was gazetted, various aspects of our culture, traditions and heritage were included and identified as items to be protected, revived, restored and to be promoted.

6 April

• Grave Robbers and War Steal Syria’s History
  The New York Times, United States
  Ali Shibleh crawled through a two-foot-high tunnel until reaching a slightly larger subterranean space. He swung his flashlight’s beam into the dark.

• After being uncovered by Soviet archaeologists, ancient mysteries revealed in Turkmen desert sands
  Art Daily
  Over four millennia ago, the fortress town of Gonur-Tepe might have been a rare advanced civilisation before it was buried for centuries under the dust of the Kara Kum desert in remote western Turkmenistan.

• Amerindian bones found at Red House dig site
  The Guardian, Trinidad and Tobago
  Human bone fragments estimated to be the remains of about four people have been discovered under the Red House during restoration work there, Parliament and Udecott officials say.

5 April

• Antwerp museum puts big, bold Rubens works into hiding for major renovation
  The Washington Post, United States
  The Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts has put those big, bold Baroque works of its famous son Peter Paul Rubens into hiding — if only for a renovation.

• In Peru, ‘Tomb Raider’ Is Not a Game
  The Wall Street Journal, United States
  Peru’s government says that a California-based on-line auction house is trying to sell 21 pre-Hispanic objects that are part of Peru’s cultural heritage. But it adds that another 12 supposed pre-Hispanic pieces also on sale are in fact fakes.

• Rijksmuseum to reopen after dazzling refurbishment and rethink
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  The grand refurbishment of the Dutch national museum of art and history, the Rijksmuseum – home to thousands of masterpieces including that greatest of Rembrandts, The Night Watch – started life as a millennium project.

• Discoveries at Hamei Yoav: A 1,500 year old wine press and a ceramic model of a church
  Art Daily
  A settlement from the Byzantine period in which an impressive wine press and a ceramic model of a church were preserved was exposed in salvage excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted near Hamei Yoav prior to the construction of an events garden by the Shevet Ahim group, led by the Yifrah Brothers.

• Medan to protect historical buildings from demolition
  The Jakarta Post, Indonesia
  The Medan Tourism Agency plans to mark out every heritage building in the North Sumatra provincial capital to prevent them from being demolished.

4 April

• UK archaeologists in Iraq find ancient complex near Ur, home of biblical Abraham
  The Washington Post, United States
  British archaeologists said Thursday they have unearthed a sprawling complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.

• Mayan Blue Pigment Recipe Revealed In New Chemical Analysis Of Ancient Paint
  The Huffington Post, United States
  The ancient Maya used a vivid, remarkably durable blue paint to cover their palace walls, codices, pottery and maybe even the bodies of human sacrifices who were thrown to their deaths down sacred wells. Now a group of chemists claim to have cracked the recipe of Maya Blue.

• Rijksmuseum set for grand reopening in Amsterdam
  BBC, United Kingdom
  When Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands officially re-opens the Rijksmuseum next week, it will mark the end of a painful restoration project.

• Lawmakers call for preventive measures towards cultural heritage
  Macau Daily Times, China
  The discussion on the draft law on Cultural Heritage Protection continued yesterday, during which the recent fire at Na Tcha Temple was put on the table for discussion. Lawmakers believe the government is also responsible for protecting heritage sites from damage.

3 April

• Hopis Try to Stop Paris Sale of Artifacts
  The New York Times, United States
  In a rare case of a cultural heritage claim arising from the sale of American artifacts abroad, the Hopi Indians of Arizona have asked federal officials to help stop a high-price auction of 70 sacred masks in Paris next week.

• Van Gogh Museum completes refurbishment
  Art Daily
  The refurbishment of the Van Gogh Museum on the Museumplein in Amsterdam has now been completed. The museum is starting the fitting out of its as yet empty building with the large jubilee exhibition entitled Van Gogh at work which will herald its re-opening on 1 May 2013.

2 April

• Riace bronzes still out in the cold
  Gazzetta del Sud, Italy
  taly's world-famous ancient Greek warrior statues, the Riace Bronzes, are still out in the cold more than two years after being moved out of a museum in their Calabrian home.

• Trove of Neanderthal Bones Found in Greek Cave
  Discovery News, United States
  A trove of Neanderthal fossils including bones of children and adults, discovered in a cave in Greece hints the area may have been a key crossroad for ancient humans, researchers say.

• Bulguk Temple pagoda-repair
  Global Post, United States
  An essential inner part of one of the two ancient Buddhist pagodas at the Bulguk Temple will be exposed to sunlight for the first time in 47 years Tuesday as part of the ongoing government project to fully disassemble the pagoda for repairs, officials said.

1 April

• L’Aquila staggers towards recovery on fourth anniversary of quake
  The Art Newspaper, United Kingdom
  As the fourth anniversary of the earthquake that devastated L’Aquila comes up on 6 April, the Italian town’s fate finally seems to be improving. Some restoration projects are already under way, although locals are still holding protests and art historians are up in arms over proposed plans to build a shopping mall and car park beneath the main square.

• Pluto's 'Gate to Hell' uncovered in Turkey
  NBC, United States
  A “gate to hell” has emerged from ruins in southwestern Turkey, Italian archaeologists have announced.

• Herculaneum: Archaeologists find diet of poor was rich
  BBC, United Kingdom
  Sometimes called The Other Pompeii, Herculaneum is a vast site nestled in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in Italy.

• Sharjah Heritage Days to begin on Wednesday
  Gulf News, Dubai
  Sharjah: Under the theme Traditions are the Pillars of Heritage, the 11th edition of the Sharjah Heritage Days will officially start on Wednesday at the Sharjah’s Heritage Area.

updated on: 2 May, 2013