November/December 2020 Issue

NEW ZEALAND:  Demolition of 43 buildings in Invercargill is providing a fascinating glimpse of what the city’s downtown area looked like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Newly uncovered remains represent a variety of businesses once located there, including banks, restaurants, a soda and cordial manufacturing company, a newspaper office, and other merchants. As many as 14 wells once used for rubbish disposal were found filled with a wealth of contemporaneous, and sometimes unusual, material, such as a sealed bottle of olives.

ISRAEL: Researchers have finally determined the location of the Battle of Arsuf, a key engagement in the Third Crusade (1189–1192). Relying on historical documents, environmental analysis, and material evidence, archaeologists pinpointed the spot on the Sharon Plain, north of modern-day Tel Aviv, where Christian troops led by Richard the Lionheart defeated the Muslim army of the sultan Saladin. Although the European forces won the battle that day, they ultimately failed to recapture Jerusalem, and returned home in 1192.

MADAGASCAR:  Unique rock art in a remote part of western Madagascar is baffling experts. The black charcoal drawings, which were found in Andriamamelo Cave, depict anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, including the now extinct megafaunal sloth lemur, in ceremonial and hunting scenes. At this point, archaeologists are unsure how old the petroglyphs are. One theory holds that they may have been created more than 2,000 years ago, based on some of the compositions’ similarities to Ptolemaic Egyptian motifs, including constellations.