Someone please tell me they've just found the only known, intact copy of the Satyricon. :-(

On a more serious note - our current Minister for the Conservation of Old Ruins and the Delaying of Important Public Works, Dario Franceschini, says we're really going to rebuild the Coliseum's arena this time (link's in Italian).

Also... a few columns, whose fragments had already been excavated in 1998, are being re-erected in their original location within the Templum Pacis; the same goes for another set of columns belonging to the Basilica Ulpia, all made possible thanks to a consistent donation from Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Lastly, the SE side of the Circus Maximus is being excavated and a project for an eventual recomposition of the Arch of Titus is in the works.

You can check the Imperial Fora's brand new lighting here.

EDIT: if anyone wants to know what's going on with the various restoration campaigns in Rome, feel free to ask!

EDIT 2: they're also restoring the Mausoleum of Augustus, and redeveloping the square around it (about time).

• Signs of world’s first pictograph found in Göbeklitepe

• The gift of the father of the legendary Cleopatra VII for an Egyptian temple, in the form of a linen cloth, has been discovered during excavations in Western Thebes (modern Luxor) in Egypt.

• The last Viking and his 'magical' sword?

• Captain Kidd 'pirate wreck' claim false, says UNESCO

• Museum teams unearth 4,000-year-old home in Ohio

• Obama preserves mammoth bones and rock carvings with new monuments - The move brings to 19 the number of national monuments the president has created or expanded and include areas of Texas, Nevada & California

• New mosaics discovered in synagogue excavations in Galilee

• Tiny genetic tweak unlocked corn kernels during domestication

• 5th-Century Mosaic Adorned with Elephants and Cupids

• Glass found at Kamigamojinja shrine likely came from ancient Persia

• Discovery of one of Mesoamerica’s oldest known ancient pyramidal tombs

• New Stonehenge alignment theory proved right as monument's tallest stone points at solstice sunset

• Pre-Roman town found during Bournemouth University dig. It is one of the earliest and largest open settlements discovered in Britain.

• The boneyard of the bizarre that rewrites our Celtic past to include hybrid-animal monster myths

• An excavation expedition spearheaded by the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) to an Egyptian dig site has led to the discovery of a 6,500 year old burial ground with several unique characteristics

• Volcanos linked to cultural upheaval since early Roman times

• Roman streets of ancient Soli gradually unearthed

• Mesolithic hunters moved through Cairngorm glens 8,000 years ago

• Rare ancient Roman frescos found in south of France

• Wind power plant to be built on archaeological site in Istanbul's Silivri

• Roman Concrete Mimicked Resistant Volcanic Rock

• Fish traps at Brewarrina are extraordinary & ancient structures. Why aren't they better protected? - They were once a great gathering site for Indigenous people, but damage & neglect is a blot on Australia’s heritage record

• Exhibition on Rhodes; The Melting Pot of Civilizations

• Mass Grave Reveals Ottoman Soldiers Fought To The Death In 16th Century Romania

• New advances, including light sources, allow for non-destructive techniques for examining old artifacts

• Endangered ancient Maya sites saved

• 1,000 year-old seeds dug up at Prehistoric Indian Village archeodome

• Viking-age hut found in Reykjavik

• Mysterious Maya ‘citadel’ begins to reveal its secrets

• Ochre mine paints ancient picture

• Revealing faded frescos

• Reconstructing the Michelangelo bronzes

Modern British Studies Birmingham really impressed me with their conference a couple of weeks ago. It was really well covered by attendees on Twitter, so I got to "hear" some papers in real time during my work day. They're now posting blogs from attendees and it's pretty neat. They seem to be doing some good work at practicing history on the internet world and in social media.

I find it interesting to watch how historians are using the web in the historian's craft.