Britain's 'regret' at Maori killings when Cook landed

Yahoo – AFP, October 2, 2019

A statue of Captain Cook stands in Sydney's Hyde Park (AFP Photo/WILLIAM WEST)

Britain's top diplomat in New Zealand made a low-key "expression of regret" to Maori on Wednesday over deadly clashes that occurred when Captain James Cook's arrived in New Zealand 250 years ago.

British High Commissioner Laura Clarke travelled to the North Island town of Gisborne for a ceremony with the Maori iwi, or tribes, who Cook met when he landed in October 1769.

The explorer's arrival sparked a series of skirmishes in the following days that resulted in nine deaths and is still recalled with anger by locals.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust said the ceremony with Clarke was to acknowledge the hara, or atrocities, committed 250 years ago.

"Cook and his crew landed on the banks of the Turanganui river at 4pm, within 30 minutes they had opened fire and (local chieftain) Te Maro was dead," it said.

"Our whanaunga (relative) was the first casualty of The Collision."

It added: "After only being here for two hours, Cook and his crew had trespassed, terrorised, killed and stolen from us."

The British High Commission issued a brief statement about the event but refused to provide further details, saying it was a "private dialogue between the envoy and the iwi.

"The expression of regret responds to a request from the local iwi for this history to be heard and acknowledged," the statement said.

"The British High Commissioner will acknowledge the pain of those first encounters, acknowledge that the pain does not diminish over time, and extend her sympathy to the descendants of those killed."

Local media reported British officials had "sworn the iwi involved to secrecy" and carefully avoided framing the statement as an apology.

However, New Zealand's race relations commissioner Meng Foon, a former Gisborne mayor, had no such qualms.

"It's a significant day today... I hope that the apology or message will acknowledge the murder of nine Maori from Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne)," he told Radio New Zealand.

"I hope they both can move forward and tell our history."

On three epic voyages, Cook helped chart the vast Pacific Ocean more than any other, making him one of the most celebrated explorers of his era.

But his legacy has been questioned by many modern scholars amid accusations that his "discoveries" led to colonialism and the devastation of the traditional societies he encountered.

Titanic shipyard to go into administration

Yahoo – AFP, August 5, 2019

Harland and Wolff shipyard once employed more than 30,000 people but that
number now stands at 130 (AFP Photo/PAUL FAITH)

Belfast (AFP) - The iconic Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff, which built the Titanic, is going into administration on Monday.

"There has been a series of board meetings the result of which is that administrators will be appointed over the course of the day," said a spokesman for the shipbuilder.

Democratic Unionist Party lawmaker Gavin Robinson earlier told BBC Radio Ulster that a short-term solution "seems increasingly unlikely" and that "we've pulled all the political levers that we can."

The shipyard is due to formally cease trading at 5.15 pm (1615 GMT) on Monday.

Dolphin Drilling, the Norwegian parent of Harland and Wolff, is struggling to find a buyer for the giant of Northern Ireland's industrial past, whose huge yellow cranes have towered over the Belfast skyline for decades.

The shipbuilder employed more than 30,000 people in the early 20th century, but now has only 130 workers.

Many of them have protested at the site since last week in a bid to save the yard, calling for the government to intervene amid rumours of last-minute buyouts.

"It's a waiting game today, we are waiting to hear news," said Barry Reid, shop steward with the GMB union.

As well as building the doomed Titanic, which sank in 1912, Harland and Wolff supplied almost 150 warships during World War II.

It has since moved away from shipbuilding and was until recently working mostly on wind energy and marine engineering projects.

North Sea container clean-up bonus: the wreck of a 16th century ship

DutchNews, April 3, 2019

Minister Engelshoven (left) inspects some of the copper sheeting. Photo: Robbert
Frank Hagens / HH

A clean-up operation to retrieve some of the containers blown off the MSC Zoe in February from the bottom of the North Sea has revealed the remains of a 16th century ship, Nu.nl reports. 

The find, which was made public by culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven on Wednesday, came to light when the salvage company fished out a number copper plates which they initially thought had been part of the contents of one of the containers. 

When their second haul contained a number of oak beams they called in marine archaeologists. 

The beams turned out to be made from trees cut down in 1536 while the copper plates were used to make copper coins which were later used by merchants in the Golden Age. 

The plates were found to be carrying the mark of the influential German Fugger banking and merchant family which dominated European business life in the 15th and 16th centuries. Archaeologists said it is the oldest copper cargo ever found in the Netherlands. 

The ship measures some 7.5 meters across and 25 to 30 meters in length. ‘It has a flat bottom so it could carry big loads,’ maritime archaeologist Alice Overmeer told Nu.nl. ‘It is the type of ship that was built in the northern Netherlands.’ 

Research into the wreck will continue during the summer. 

Some 345 containers were lost during the February storm on the North Sea with goods littering the beaches of the Wadden islands for weeks. Minister Van Engelshoven called the accidental discovery of the wreck ‘a silver lining’.

Dutch maritime investigators searching for missing containers washed overboard during a North Sea storm have accidentally stumbled on a 16-century shipwreck, the oldest such a find to date https://t.co/nk2BZGN2w1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 3 april 2019

Norway makes rare discovery of Viking ship traces

Yahoo – AFP, October 15, 2018

The boatlike shape was discovered in Norway inside a Viking burial mound
using radar (AFP Photo/NIKU)

Oslo (AFP) - Archaeologists said on Monday they have found what they believe are traces of a Viking ship buried in southeast Norway, a rare discovery that could shed light on the skilled navigators' expeditions in the Middle Ages.

The boatlike shape was detected about 50 centimetres underground in a tumulus, a burial mound, with the use of a ground-penetrating radar in Halden, a municipality located southeast of Oslo.

"In the middle of the mound, we discovered what is called an anomaly, something that is different from the rest and clearly has the shapes and dimensions of a Viking ship," Knut Paasche, an archaeologist at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), told AFP.

"What we cannot say for sure is the condition of the conservation. Yes there was a boat there, but it's hard to say how much wood is left," Paasche said.

The Vikings, Northern European warriors and merchants who sailed the seas between the 8th and 11th century, would bury their kings and chiefs aboard a boat hoisted onshore and left under a mound of earth.

Only three Viking ships in good condition have been discovered in Norway in the past, including the well-preserved Oseberg ship discovered in 1903. All three of them are now exhibited in a museum near Oslo.

"We need more discoveries to explain what these boats looked like and how the Vikings would sail," Paasche said.

Left without a bow and a stern, which is the back part of a ship, the traces were discovered in Halden prior to agricultural drainage operations. They are about 20 metres long, potentially making it one of the largest Viking ships discovered in Norway, according to NIKU.

The institute says it now considering what to do with the discovery, but ruled out an excavation at this time of the year.

Pacific's Cook Islands mulls new name

Yahoo – AFP, 5 March 2019

Dancers from the Cook Islands perform during a ceremony in the capital,
Avarua. The government is considering changing the name of the tiny nation to
something more traditional

The tiny Pacific nation of Cook Islands is considering changing its name to something that reflects its Polynesian culture, rather than honouring the British explorer James Cook.

The government set up a committee in January to find a new indigenous name for the grouping of 15 islands, about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) northeast of New Zealand.

Initially the idea was to have the indigenous moniker feature alongside the existing Cook Islands name, in the same way that its larger neighbour is sometimes known as Aotearoa-New Zealand.

But committee chairman Danny Mataroa said Monday that once discussions began it became apparent there was support for dropping the Cook Islands name altogether in favour of one in the local language, known as Cook Islands Maori.

Map showing the Cook Islands

"When the committee members, which include Cook Islands historians and people with deep traditional knowledge, met we decided it was time we change the name of the country," he told AFP.

Mataroa said the new name should reflect the country's heritage, its people and its strong Christian belief.

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Brown backed the move, but said there was still a long way to go before the nation of 12,000 people changed its name.

"I'm quite happy to look at a traditional name for our country which more reflects the true Polynesian nature of our island nation," he told Radio New Zealand.

It is not the first time the issue has surfaced, with a 1994 referendum to change the name to Avaiki Nui resoundingly defeated.

Weightlifter Sam Pera parades the Cook Islands flag during the opening ceremony 

of the 2004 Olympic Games. The tiny Pacific Ocean nation is considering a name 

change to something more traditional

The Cook Islands were a British protectorate from 1888 until 1900, when they came under New Zealand's jurisdiction.

The Cooks gained independence in 1965 but maintains close ties to Wellington, which takes responsibility for the Cooks' external affairs and allows its citizens to live and work in New Zealand.

Scientists find 'world's oldest' biological colours

Yahoo – AFP, July 10, 2018

The pigment samples are around 1.1 billion years old, or around 15 times older than
a Tyrannosaurus Rex (AFP Photo/Lannon Harley, Lannon Harley, Lannon Harley)

Sydney (AFP) - Australian researchers have uncovered the world's oldest biological colour in the Sahara desert, in a find they said Tuesday helped explain why complex lifeforms only recently emerged on earth.

The pink pigments were produced by simple microscopic organisms called cyanobacteria more than 1.1 billion years ago, some 500 million years older than previous colour pigment discoveries.

That makes the samples around "fifteen times older" than the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur species, according to senior Australian National University researcher Jochen Brocks.

Earth itself is about 4.5 billion years old and researchers said the latest find shed light on why more sophisticated plant and animal life only came into existence 600 million years ago.

Previous research argued that low oxygen levels in the atmosphere held back the evolution of complicated lifeforms, but the discovery of cyanobacteria at such an early date suggests that the organisms crowded out more plentiful food sources such as algae.

"Algae, although still microscopic, are a thousand times larger in volume than cyanobacteria, and are a much richer food source," Brocks told AFP.

"The cyanobacterial oceans started to vanish about 650 million years ago, when algae began to rapidly spread to provide the burst of energy needed for the evolution of complex ecosystems, where large animals, including humans, could thrive on Earth."

Scientists came across the samples accidently when an oil company drilling in the Taoudeni basin in West Africa sent them rocks for analysis.

The pigments are fossilised relics of chlorophyll, a chemical that allows plants and some microscopic lifeforms to turn light into energy.

Researchers said the pink pigment they discovered would have originally appeared blue-green to the human eye.

The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Archaeologists find fossils, Mayan relics in giant underwater cave in Mexico

Yahoo – AFP, February 20, 2018

Remains of a Pleistocene bear from 2.5 million years ago, in the Sac Actun underwater
 cave in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, in an image published by the National Institute
of Anthropology and History (INAH) on February 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/HO)

Mexico City (AFP) - Archaeologists who have been exploring the world's largest underwater cave -- recently discovered in Mexico -- presented their findings Monday, including fossils of giant sloths and an elaborate shrine to the Mayan god of commerce.

Researchers discovered last month that two large networks of underwater caves in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, the Sac Actun and Dos Ojos networks, are in fact connected, forming the largest such structure on Earth.

Diving with SCUBA gear, they have been exploring the ancient relics left in the caves over the millenia, in a project sponsored by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Researchers believe the water level in the caves has fluctuated over time, and that they were a source of water in times of severe drought -- a sometimes perilous one.

Some of the animals and humans who ventured inside never made it out alive. Today, their remains are a treasure trove for scientists, enabling them to piece together bits of the cave's history dating all the way back to the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).

Remains of a mask in the Sac Actun underwater cave in Mexico's Quintana Roo 

state, from an image published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History

(INAH) on February 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/HO)

The animal remains include gomphotheres -- an extinct elephant-like animal -- as well as giant sloths and bears, archaeologists told a press conference.

Then there are the artefacts left inside by humans: burnt human bones, ceramics, wall etchings and more.

"It is very unlikely that there is another site in the world with these characteristics. There is an impressive amount of archaeological artefacts inside, and the level of preservation is also impressive," said Guillermo de Anda, an underwater archaeologist.

The relics include a shrine to the Mayan god of war and commerce, with a staircase accessed through a sink-hole in the middle of the jungle.

Many other of the hundreds of sink-holes that connect to the cave have elaborate signs of ritual activity around them, archaeologists said.

The ancient Mayans viewed caves, "and especially ones that led to water, as extremely sacred places," the INAH said.

17th century Dutch shipwreck gives up more of its secrets

DutchNews, November 24, 2017

Archaeologists at the site of the find. Photo: University of Western Australia 

The ill-fated Dutch ship Batavia which sank after striking a reef off the Western Australian coast in 1629 has given up more of its secrets. 

An international team of archaeologists, including scientists from the University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Museum and the University of Amsterdam, has discovered a new communal grave in the Abrolhos Islands containing the bodies of five of the survivors.

 ‘These people probably died shortly after the shipwreck,’, archaeologist Liesbeth Smits told Trouw. ‘They died of hunger or from drinking salt water. We didn’t find any evidence of a violent death, which we saw on the remains we found earlier.’ 

The newly built VOC ship, on its way to Batavia, was doomed from the start. Commander Francois Pelsaert, a merchant but in charge of the ship, and his captain Adriaan Jakobsz did not see eye to eye and the latter conspired to hijack the ship which was laden with valuable merchandise and money. 

Wrecked

But a navigational mistake put paid to his plan and the Batavia was wrecked in 1629 on the Morning Reef off the Western Australian coast. The 282 survivors ended up on a small coral island termed ‘Batavia’s Graveyard’ – Beacon Island. In the following months a mutiny unfolded, leading to the deaths of around 115 people, many of whom were murdered by the mutineers. 

The communal grave was discovered earlier this month and was made up of five sets of human remains, along with various artefacts. 

Now, Smits is going to try to find out where the five men came from. ‘We are going to look at the chemical composition of the enamel on their teeth. This is formed during the first years of life and doesn’t change with age. All sorts of chemicals from the environment of your birth end up in there, via food among other things. These chemical elements can tell us very accurately where these people grew up,’ she told Trouw. 

International 

The method was used on other remains as well and showed the VOC, which was the first multinational company in the world, was a truly international company with French and British crew members. 

Jeremy Green, head of maritime archaeology at the Western Australian Museum, who has been investigating the Batavia and the story of its survivors since the wreck’s discovery more than 50 years ago, says the grave constitutes yet another piece of the ship’s tumultuous history. 

‘This latest find adds significantly to the wealth of information we have on Batavia, and shows that there are still very important discoveries to be made about the remarkable human story behind one of Australia’s oldest known shipwrecks,’ he said.

'Tsunami-sunk' Roman ruins discovered in Tunisia

Yahoo – AFP, August 31, 2017

A handout picture released by the Tunisian National Heritage Institute and the

 University of Sassari on August 31, 2017 shows archaeologists diving off the coast 

of Nabeul in northeastern Tunisia at the site of the ancient Roman city of Neapolis

(AFP Photo/Handout)

Nabeul (Tunisia) (AFP) - Vast underwater Roman ruins have been discovered off northeast Tunisia, apparently confirming a theory that the city of Neapolis was partly submerged by a tsunami in the 4th century AD.

"It's a major discovery," Mounir Fantar, the head of a Tunisian-Italian archaeological mission which made the find off the coast of Nabeul, told AFP.

He said an underwater expedition had found streets, monuments and around 100 tanks used to produce garum, a fermented fish-based condiment that was a favourite of ancient Rome.

"This discovery has allowed us to establish with certainty that Neapolis was a major centre for the manufacture of garum and salt fish, probably the largest centre in the Roman world," said Fantar.

"Probably the notables of Neapolis owed their fortune to garum."

Fantar's team started work in 2010 in search of the port of Neapolis but only made the breakthrough find of the ruins stretching out over 20 hectares (almost 50 acres) this summer thanks to favourable weather conditions.

The discovery also proved that Neapolis had been partly submerged by a tsunami on July 21 in 365 AD that badly damaged Alexandria in Egypt and the Greek island of Crete, as recorded by historian Ammien Marcellin.

Bones, silver found in 18th-century Dutch wreck off UK

Yahoo – AFP, August 18, 2017

A diver works on the wreck of the Rooswijk, a Dutch East India Company ship
which sank in 1740, on the sea bed off the coast of Ramsgate, southeast England,
in a picture released by Historic England in London on August 18, 2017 (AFP Photo/)

London (AFP) - Maritime archaeologists said Friday they have begun excavating the wreck of a Dutch ship that sank off the English coast in 1740, recovering leather shoes, silver and the bones of its lost crew.

The Rooswijk, a Dutch East India Company ship, was on its way to what is now Jakarta when it went down with around 300 people and a large cargo of silver ingots and coinage aboard.

Following its discovery in 2005, most of the precious goods were removed, but a full excavation is now underway due to concerns it could be destroyed by shifting sands and currents.

Remains of some of the sailors who perished have been found preserved on the seabed 26 metres (85 feet) down, along with more coins, leather shoes, an oil lamp, glass bottles, pewter jugs and spoons and ornately carved knife handles.

"It's a snapshot of a moment in time," said Alison James, a maritime archaeologist at the Historic England cultural agency, while one her colleagues said it was like "an underwater Pompeii".

The items brought ashore for conservation also include wooden seaman's chests which will be x-rayed to see if they are contain cargo or personal possessions.

James told AFP it was a remarkable site: "It's incredibly well-preserved, it's a very early wreck and there's a lot of material on the seabed."

The wreck is under the legal protection and management of the British government, although the excavation is led and financed by the Dutch government, which also owns any finds.

The project is the largest of its scale on a ship from the Dutch East India Company, which lost a total of 250 vessels to shipwreck -- of which only a third have been located.

Hawaiian canoe comes home after epic round-the-world odyssey

Yahoo – AFP, 18 June 2017

Hawaiian canoe comes home after epic round-the-world odyssey

Los Angeles (AFP) - A traditional double-hulled canoe has returned to Hawaii after concluding a three-year epic journey around the globe, the first trip of its kind by such a boat.

The Hokule'a vessel and its crew entered the marina at Honolulu's Magic Island peninsula on Saturday after sailing more than 40,000 nautical miles (74,000 kilometres) since its departure from the island of Oahu in 2014.

Large crowds gathered for the homecoming celebration to commemorate the end of the odyssey, which intended to "weave a lei of hope around the world through sharing indigenous wisdom, groundbreaking conservation and preservation initiatives," according to voyage organisers.

The goal was to use only ancient methods of wayfinding -- reading the stars, winds and waves -- to guide the journey, just as the first Polynesian settlers who reached the archipelago did hundreds of years ago.

The Hokule'a -- the Hawaiian name for "star of gladness" -- was the first traditional double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe built in 600 years, according to the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

The canoe's maiden voyage in 1976 was to Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Crews of some dozen people rotated at major ports of call throughout the round-the-world journey after undergoing training.

The homecoming celebration kicked off a three-day summit to celebrate the journey and discuss future sailing plans.

"Through her voyages, Hokule'a has sparked a reawakening of Hawaiian culture, language, identity and revitalised voyaging and navigation traditions throughout the Pacific Ocean," voyage organisers said.

VOC ship sunk off the coast of England in 1740 to be investigated

DutchNews, April 18, 2017

Coins salvaged from the Rooswijk were sold on Ebay in 2007

A Dutch ship laden with chests of silver which sunk off the coast of England in 1740 is to be partly excavated and its cargo recovered, the education ministry said on Tuesday. 

The Rooswijk was a VOC ship and sunk close to the Goodwin Sands sandbank on its way to Asia in a heavy storm. The ship had a crew of some 350 and was laden with silver and coins to trade. 

The wreck is now threatened by shifts in the current and a project to extract sand from the area, the Telegraaf said on Tuesday. The Netherlands and England have therefore decided to carry out a proper survey of the ship and its spoils, which will take place from July 1 to October. 

Education minister Jet Bussemaker said there is increasing awareness of the importance of wrecks as part of the Dutch identity. Wrecks, she said, are ‘time capsules’ full of stories. 

‘The two century history of the VOC is part of our collective memory, including all we are proud of, but also what we are now ashamed of,’ she said. 

Divers first found and explored the wreck in 2004. In 2005, they recovered one thousand bars of silver, gold coins and a mustard jar which were given to the Dutch government. 

VOC

The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC (Dutch East India Company) was established in 1602 when it was given a 21-year monopoly to trade with Asia. It went on to trade throughout Asia for two centuries before being dissolved in 1798. 

The VOC is often described as the world’s first multinational corporation and was also the first company to issue stocks.

Fossils of 12 million year old whales found off Dutch coast

DutchNews, April 10, 2017

Fossils of five previously unknown species of marine mammals have been discovered off the Dutch coast. 

The fossils date back 12 million years and include the remains of the oldest direct ancestor of the blue whale. 

Fisherman and amateur fossil expert Klaas Post discovered the site, in the Westerschelde estuary near Terneuzen, in 2014. The area is around 30 metres below the surface and a few hundred metres wide, but was inaccessible until now because of shipwrecks. 

Last autumn fossils dating back around 40 million years were found near Walcheren. They include a primitive species of whale with distinctive back legs.

Israel divers find ancient marine cargo in Mediterranean

Yahoo – AFP, May 16, 2016

Artefacts from a merchant ship that sank off the ancient Mediterranean port of
Caesarea 1,600 years ago are presented to the press by Israel's Antiquities Authority
on May 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

Caesarea (Israel) (AFP) - Israel's Antiquities Authority on Monday displayed cargo from a merchant ship that sank off the ancient Mediterranean port of Caesarea 1,600 years ago, including rare bronze statues and thousands of coins.

The find, happened upon by two divers a few weeks ago who then alerted the authority, consisted primarily of "metal slated for recycling" borne on the ship from Caesarea in the late Roman period, IAA experts said.

But a storm at the entrance to Caesarea harbour crashed the large ship into the seawall and rocks, the IAA said, spilling the cargo into the sea and preserving the "exciting finds".

Artefacts recovered off the ancient Mediterranean port of Caesarea in Israel 

includes thousands of coins in two lumps weighing around 20 kilogrammes bearing

the images of Constantine the Great and of Licinius (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

"Metal statues are rare archaeological finds because they were always melted down and recycled in antiquity," Jacob Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the IAA and his deputy Dror Planer said in a joint statement, noting such a trove hasn't been found in Israel for 30 years.

The artefacts include "a bronze lamp depicting the image of the sun god Sol, a figurine of the moon goddess Luna, a lamp in the image of the head of an African slave (and) fragments of three life-size bronze cast statues," the IAA said.

There were also "objects fashioned in the shape of animals such as a whale (and) a bronze faucet in the form of a wild boar with a swan on its head," the statement said, noting the sand protected the statues which were "in an amazing state of preservation."

Items, which the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) estimate to be around 1600 

years old, are displayed after it was recovered from a merchant ship in the 

ancient harbor of the Caesarea National Park May 16, 2016. Reuters/ Baz Ratner

The find includes thousands of coins in two lumps weighing around 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) bearing the images of Constantine the Great and of Licinius, an emperor who ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire and was a rival of Constantine.

Fragments of drinking jars were also found, as well as iron anchors, apparently cast from the ship in the vain hope of preventing it crashing in the storm.

The discovery comes a year after the exposure of a record trove of some 2,000 gold coins in the same area, with Sharvit crediting the abundance of divers with the growing number of finds.

According to Sharvit and Planer, the finds reflect the "economic and commercial stability in the wake of the stability of the Roman Empire," a period in which "Christianity was on its way to becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire."

‘Royal’ 17th century dress found under sand off the coast of Texel

DutchNews, April 14, 2016

Photo: Kaap Skil

 A 17th century silk dress found buried in sand by divers in the Wadden Sea is one of the most significant maritime finds ever made, experts said on Thursday. 

The dress, other items of clothing and day-to-day artifacts such as a comb, books and a pomander, were found by divers in the wreck of ship near the island of Texel. The dress, which experts say was probably owned by a noblewoman, if not royalty, is in remarkably good condition, which is very rare for a dress of its age. 

The dress has gone on show for a month at the Kaap Skil maritime and beachcombers museum on the island. 

Made of silk damask with a pattern of flowers, the dress was probably for everyday use because it does not have silver or gold embroidery, the museum said in a press release. Other items of clothing found under the sand were richly embroidered. 

All the clothing is a similar size, indicating it belonged to the same woman. 

A leather book cover also found in the wreck carries the coat of arms of the British king Charles 1. ‘This is direct evidence that at least part of the cargo had belonged to the English royal family, the Stuarts,’ the museum said. ‘Given the richness of the rest of the cargo, this is not entirely impossible.’

Ancient warrior's tomb and huge treasure hoard found in Greece

Yahoo – AFP, October 26, 2015

An undated picture released on October 26, 2105 by the Greek Culture Ministry

 shows an ivory comb, one of the items found in a 3,500 years old warrior tomb 

unearthed in the Peloponeese region of Greece (AFP Photo)

Athens (AFP) - US archaeologists in Greece have uncovered the skeleton of an ancient warrior that has lain undisturbed for more than 3,500 years along with a huge hoard of treasure, the Greek culture ministry announced Monday.

The treasure is "the most important to have been discovered in 65 years" in continental Greece, the ministry said.

The wooden coffin of the unknown soldier -- evidently a person of some importance -- was found on the site of the Mycenaean-era Palace of Nestor on Greece's Peloponnese peninsula.

He had been laid to rest with an array of fine gold jewellery, including an ornate string of pearls, signet rings, a bronze sword with a gold and ivory handle, silver vases and ivory combs.

The jewellery is decorated in the style of the Minoans, the civilisation that flourished on the island of Crete from around 2000 BC, with the figures of deities, animals and floral motifs.

The archaeologists, Jack L. Davis and Sharon R. Stocker from the University of Cincinnati, have identified more than 1,400 pieces "whose quality testifies to the influence of the Minoans" on the later Mycenaeans.

The Mycenean civilisation spread from the Peloponnese across the whole of the eastern Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC.

The tomb, which stands at 2.4 metres (7 feet 10 inches) long and 1.5 metres wide, was unearthed during excavations begun in May near Pylos, on the site of the palace of Nestor.

Built between 1300 and 1200 BC, the palace's ruins were discovered in 1939.

Celebrate Amsterdam’s maritime past at SAIL 2015

DutchNews, August 14, 2015

The arrival of the tall ships. Photo: Wim Haze

SAIL is one of the city’s biggest and most unique festivals but it only happens once every five years. Brandon Hartley checks out what is on offer for the 2015 edition. 

Amsterdam and boats have gone hand in hand since it consisted of little more than a few cottages and a bridge over the Amstel. Needless to say, the city has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the Middle Ages. During the Dutch Golden Age, Amsterdam’s ports helped it become one of the wealthiest places on the planet. 

Flash forward to the early ‘70s when Amsterdam officials were looking for a way to celebrate the city’s 700th anniversary. What they came up with was SAIL Amsterdam, a nautical event in the summer of 1975 devoted to the history of the city’s maritime industry and its culture. 

The five-day extravaganza featured ‘tall ships’ from all across Europe, around 500 modern vessels and over 700,000 visitors. By all accounts, it was a huge success; so much so that the organisers decided to host the event again in 1980 

Sailing Into the Present Day 

Now in its ninth edition, SAIL Amsterdam is held every five years and it’s grown into the largest free maritime event in the world. It’s now a tradition for thousands of spectators line the banks of the river IJ to watch the ships arrive on the first day of the festival. 

The 2015 celebration will take place from Wednesday 19 until Sunday 23 August. The fun will begin with the Sail-In Parade, which organisers promise will be the biggest opening event in SAIL Amsterdam’s history. Over 43 tall ships along with five Dutch Marine boats and hundreds more vessels are scheduled to sail in file down the North Sea Canal into central Amsterdam.

If you can’t make it to the shores of the IJ to watch the fleet arrive, you can always tune in from home. The Sail-In Parade will be broadcast live on national television on the 19th. The ships will set sail for Amsterdam at 10:00 and are due to arrive in the city around 15:00. 

While the parade itself is a spectacle, what traditionally happens afterwards can be, well, a little less so. Getting all of those boats into the correct spots along the IJ’s quays tends to make the average rush hour traffic jam in Los Angeles look downright orderly by comparison. 

Tall ships

SAIL Amsterdam will feature countless boats and numerous events but, as with prior editions, the main draw will likely be the tall ships travelling to the city from ports all across the world. These gorgeous vessels and their photogenic masts harken back to the classic era of seafaring. 

The STS Young Endeavour is just one of the dozens that will appear at the 2015 festival. This tall ship hails from Australia and is currently in the middle of a year-long voyage around the world. A replica of the legendary Nao Victoria will also appear. The original ship was one of the first vessels to circumnavigate the globe back in the 16th century. 

The Biggest SAIL of All Time 

‘1.7 million people visited SAIL Amsterdam 2010,’ SAIL spokesperson Jan Driessen told DutchNews. ‘This year we expect even more visitors because we have an extra (fifth) day.’ 

In addition to giving the schedule a boost, Driessen and his colleagues have done their best to make this year’s event the biggest and best SAIL Amsterdam thus far. The festival’s grounds have been expanded to cover a wider portion of the city. It’s been divided into five areas dubbed ‘Oceans,’ each with its own unique theme and colour. 

Those eager to have a look at the tall ships can head to ‘Orange Ocean’, the spot where they’ll be moored along the IJ. The ships will be joined by a full programme of live music at the nearby SAIL Music Marina and a nightly fireworks display.

In search of calmer seas? Then aim for the ‘Red Ocean’, which will feature educational exhibitions and lectures at various locations across the city centre. 

SAIL at night. Photo: Wim Haze

Over at the NDSM Wharf visitors can enjoy exhibits that focus on technology, sustainable shipbuilding and innovation in the ‘Green Ocean’. The centrepiece of this area is sure to be the Volvo Ocean Race Team’s Brunel yacht. Crew members will be on hand to tell attendees about their experiences during their races on the high seas and what everyday life is like on board the ship.

‘White Ocean’, located near the EYE Film Museum, will serve as the home of the Northwave Festival. It offers a relaxing departure from the hustle and bustle of central Amsterdam with food and live music. Finally, ‘Blue Ocean’, over by the National Maritime Museum, will host a series of corporate events and a private ‘Captain’s Dinner’ with the commanders of the event’s tall ships. 

The full programme for SAIL Amsterdam 2015 can be found online.