The results, which are 85 per cent accurate when compared to the painstaking manual reconstructions performed by linguists, will be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We’re hopeful our tool will revolutionize historical linguistics much the same way that statistical analysis and computer power revolutionized the study of evolutionary biology,” says UBC Assistant Prof. of Statistics Alexandre Bouchard-Côté, lead author of the study.

“And while our system won’t replace the nuanced work of skilled linguists, it could prove valuable by enabling them to increase the number of modern languages they use as the basis for their reconstructions.”

Examples of Protolanguage Words Reconstructed By UBC Tool – Credit: University of British Columbia

The new tool designed by Bouchard-Côté and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley analyzes sound changes at the level of basic phonetic units, and can operate at much greater scale than previous computerized tools.

The researchers reconstructed a set of protolanguages from a database of more than 142,000 word forms from 637 Austronesian languages-spoken in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and parts of continental Asia.

Protolanguages
Most protolanguages do not leave written records-but in some instances reconstructions can be partially verified against ancient texts or literary histories. A notable exception is well-documented Latin, the protolanguage of the Romance languages, which include modern French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan and Spanish.

Source: University of British Columbia [February 11, 2013]

In this large observational study, prepregnancy obesity was associated, on average, with a three-point drop in reading scores and a two-point reduction in math scores on a commonly used test of children’s cognitive function. Continue…researchnews.osu.edu

Who hasn’t dreamt of floating on a cloud? Whether we are looking up at the sky or gazing out of an airplane window, those giant beds of fluff are irresistible.

New York designer Tiago Barros is on the same wavelength and created an incredible, cloud-like balloon that takes travelers for a floating ride around the country. While the project, called Passing Cloud, may be making all our dreams come true, it is also a treat for the environment as it may turn out to be one of the greenest forms of transportation yet.

Passing Cloud is, in fact, not a cloud at all. It is a series of heavy duty balloons held together in the shape of a cloud, reminiscent of the old Zeppelins. The balloons are surrounded by a stainless steel structure covered in tensile nylon fabric. The fabric is incredibly strong and flexible, moving with the wind and capturing the biggest gusts to power movement and protect passengers from blowing away.

Those who are looking to ride the Passing Cloud better not have a schedule in mind. The idea of this mode of transportation is focused on the journey and experience of floating along the sky like a cloud. Passengers board the structure by ladder and simply sit upon the surface for the entirety of the ride. There is no destination, no schedule, no speed to adhere by. The wind determines both where the cloud goes and exactly how fast.

One thing that is for certain, is that the Passing Cloud is incredibly easy on the environment. It emits no exhaust, produces no waste, and uses very little energy to function. By simply floating through the air, the vehicle becomes a part of nature and its courses.

This design is certainly an eye catcher, but it was even more surprising to its initial viewers. Tiago Barros submitted the Passing Cloud plan to the Van Alen Institute and the Department of Cultural Affairs of New York for their international “Life at the Speed of Rail” competition. Expecting to see only designs of high speed rail networks, this floating oasis was a jaw dropper. Though the design did not win the competition, it must have at least been a breath of fresh air.

Author: Molly Cotter| Source: inhabitat [January 12, 2012]

The scientists believe that these prehistoric Aboriginal People – who would have been among the earliest in-habitants of the continent – had a “kill site” along a ridge straddling the present-day U.S.-Canada border that was eventually submerged by rising waters when the glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.

Now drowned under about 35 metres of water in Lake Huron, the Alpena-Amberley Ridge is named for the Michigan and Ontario towns that respectively mark the western and eastern ends of the 160-km-long, 16-km-wide feature.

The theory that the ridge was an ancient hunting ground was first announced in 2009 after the discovery of lake-bottom rock features that appeared to have been arranged by human hands to herd migrating caribou in-to narrow corridors ideal for spear hunting.

These “drive lanes” are still used by some Inuit hunters in Northern Canada to funnel caribou and make hunting them easier.

Other groups of boulders mapped by the Lake Huron researchers are thought to have been “blinds” meant to conceal hunters before they sprang out to attack passing caribou.

The two-metre-long piece of wood, found amid such a rock assemblage during a summer search of Huron’s floor for traces of human activity, was later dated to 8,900 years ago, the researchers revealed last month.

“The first thing you notice is that it appears to have been shaped with a rounded base and a pointed tip,” University of Michigan anthropologist John O’Shea stated in a summary of the team’s research.

“There’s also a bevel on one side that looks unnatural, like it had to have been created. It looks like it might have been used as a tent pole or a pole to hang meat.”

O’Shea’s principal research partner, University of Michigan marine engineer Guy Meadows, told Postmedia News last March that the Lake Huron rock formations constituted “promising” – but not definitive – evidence of an ancient human presence, and that the team was keen to gather more compel-ling proof.

“We really want to produce an artifact, and not just these rock structures that look very promising,” he said at the time. “But the area is obviously enormous – it’s a proverbial needle-in-a-haystack problem.”

The large, wooden “needle” found last summer is still undergoing tests to deter-mine precisely how it might have been modified by pre-historic hunters.

Based on geological data that give a general picture of the topography along the ridge about 10,000 years ago, the simulation is meant to al-low the experts to “step into that world” and visualize the paths caribou would likely have taken during their mass migrations, Reynolds said in an interview last year.

The simulation, he said at the time, was designed to help researchers plot the places where ancient hunters would have established staging grounds and positioned themselves around kills sites to maximize their harvesting chances.

During this past summer’s field work, deposits of pine pollen and charcoal were also identified and sampled at the site where the pole was discovered.

“Slowly, the environment-al picture is filling in,” O’Shea stated in the research summary.

O’Shea has previously stated that the possible under-water archeological site in Lake Huron is important “be-cause the entire ancient landscape has been preserved and has not been modified by farming, or modern development. That has implications for ecology, archeology and environmental modelling.”

Author: Randy Boswell | Source: Ottowa Citizen [January 08, 2012]

The doors are closed and the entire building is in darkness. Inside, there are only echoes. Even the red lights one can see don’t give a friendlier impression. And, critics say, the lifeless state of the Mosul Museum, second only to Baghdad’s museums in the ancient and historic treasures it once housed, is just a symbol of how important archaeological sites and Iraq’s ancient history is being ignored by authorities here.

It is clear that Iraq has much to offer students of ancient history and archaeology. Often referred to as the “Cradle of Civilisation”, the modern nation occupies much of the ancient land of Mesopotamia, where some of the greatest ancient civilizations developed, thrived and died out. As such, the country is wealthy in historical sites and ancient treasures.

Recent times have seen these much endangered. Various wars have wreaked havoc on historical sites and as security situations have changed, looters have ransacked museums and made off with ancient treasures.

In fact, the theft of Iraq’s antiquities began far earlier. Mosul archaeologist Ahmad Qasim al-Jumah says that organized campaigns began as far back as 1805, when ancient finds were sent to Europe to be displayed in museums there and never returned. In the 1970s, local experts say, further damage was done due to unscientific restoration methods and the unsafe transportation of antiquities around Iraq.

This century al-Jumah believes some of the most recent damage has come about because of the location of military sites after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime. US troops were deployed in a number of places that had archaeological significance and after they withdrew or moved on, Iraqi military took over the same places.

At one stage, al-Jumah says he tried to visit one of Mosul’s castles. However soldiers were deployed there and they refused him entry to the site. “It took them two hours to give me permission to go in,” he complained. “And I think I only got in because they were able to verify that I was the head of a committee formed to rehabilitate the castle. But who else would ever come and visit the castle under such conditions?”

Mosul’s historical sites are hardly set up to receive tourist attention anyway. “Most of the archaeological sites haven’t been well preserved,” al-Jumah reported. “None have visitor’s centres, there’s no lighting or information and hardly any signage.”

Where the military has been active, the signs that do exist have often been damaged by artillery. People have also started using the sites as rubbish dumps.

Niqash visited several of the historic sites and, besides meeting Iraqi military there, found further factors to concern local historians and archaeologists. Hundreds of poor or displaced families have found shelter in these places and built housing randomly around the place.

Confronted with this information, Salem Younis, the head of the state of Nineveh’s Antiquities Department, who is responsible for the protection of antiquities, didn’t think the situation was very serious. “There are very few violations and they do not pose a threat to the sites of archaeological importance, as long as there is no excavation, digging or the removal of any signs,” he stated.

The evidence contradicts him though. Official documents obtained by Niqash indicate that some of the historically significant land has been developed into residential areas. Apparently one group, working illegally with government employees, managed to purchase three acres of land north of Mosul. They then sold it on for a high profit and an official letter sent by Nineveh’s property department in reply to a query from colleagues in the antiquities department, admits that, “the whole area has become residential. Nothing of its historic nature has been preserved.”

One of the reasons why this is allowed to happen is due the lack of any laws to protect such sites, experts say. The antiquities department has complained that no legal action of any kind has been taken against violators and that they can only stand by helplessly, as more historic sites are defiled or ruined forever.

The local authorities have no interest in these things, Nagham Yacoub, who works in the tourism of antiquities in Mosul, said. For them, they are “mere stones that nobody needs. This was their response every time I asked for funding to rehabilitate on these sites,” she said. “Why is it, that in a place like this where there are around 1,500 archeologically significant sites, we have no tourists visiting them? Why is it that no scientific visits to these sites have been organized for years?” she asked annoyed, before saying that she felt that the local authorities were happy to keep the Mosul Museum closed.

The Mosul Museum is another sore point here. While some items in the Museum were damaged after the insecurity following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, many are still safe mainly because staff sent them to Baghdad for safekeeping.

What was left – the pieces too large to move, for instance – was wrapped for safekeeping. “The tableaus which were not taken away were not affected during the invasion,” Dr Raya Mohsen, the museum’s director, explains, referring to the fact that some ancient bronze panels were stolen or damaged. However, as Mohsen noted sadly, “the library was much damaged. Most of the books that were stolen have been returned but there are still around 100 books missing.”

A source at the Rabiah border point, where Syria meets Iraq, told Niqash that a lot of these books were ancient texts written in a language other than Arabic and that they were mainly smuggled into Syria.

So Mosul Museum remains closed. To an outsider, it’s hard to understand why. The museum is in a secure area of the city surrounded by government departments and the city in general is more secure.

“The museum needs renovation and maintenance and we also need to bring back the items that were transported to Baghdad,” Mohsen explained. “The budget that the local government has allocated us for this is only due in six months – that is if they ever pay it,” she added.

In fact, Mohsen continued, “another of the main problems is the shortage of employees. From 1990 onwards, only one new employee was hired and all the rest have now retired.” Half of those currently employed will retire shortly and only seven will stay on until 2012. “The museum will suffer because it has only one employee aside from me. The other four have actually already retired and are working on temporary basis.”

Yet there appear to be many young archaeology experts available to work in Iraq. Dr Nabil Nour ad-Din, the head of the Archaeology Department at Mosul University, felt that his students were well prepared to begin work at Iraq’s museums.

Additionally, he said that, “95 per cent of the archaeological digs in the country still need to be excavated. Many of the sites need maintenance and, in collaboration with European academic institutions, the university has prepared a scientific plan for that,” ad-Din continued. “However the authorities have yet to approve this plan.”

All of which leads back to one critical question: what is the most serious danger to Iraq’s precious antiquities? Is it war, looting or theft? Is it the generally insecure situation or the refugees camping on top of them? None of these actually. The same answer was given by all the experts Niqash interviewed: “Ignorance”. Both from the average Iraqi, unaware of what that pile of rocks actually signifies, and the local authorities.

Author: Saleh Elias | Source: Niqash [January 05, 2012]

Half a million people from around the globe are participating in an ambitious project to reconstruct some of the ancient migratory routes that took Homo sapiens from their ancient African homelands to the relatively new territories of Asia, Europe, Oceania and America.

Hidden within the genetic makeup of people alive today is the encoded story of how their ancient ancestors made this epic journey, which covered many thousands of miles over many tens of thousands of years to complete.

The Genographic Project, a landmark study into ancient human migrations, aims to decode these hidden signposts within our DNA. By doing so, the project hopes to unravel the complex movements of the earliest men and women who were driven through necessity or curiosity to explore new territories and establish fresh roots in strange lands.

Human palaeontology, the study of ancient remains, suggests that the species Homo sapiens originated in Africa, probably East Africa, about 200,000 years ago, but it was only about 60,000 years ago that anatomically modern humans began their long and arduous journey out of Africa.

In recent years, with the ability to decode the human genome quickly and cheaply, it has been possible to compare the palaentological record with historical information on human movements stored within our DNA.

Over time, human DNA has amassed a bewildering variety of mutations that scientists can now exploit to build a picture of how men and women today are descended from the first people who moved along these ancient migratory routes.

One of the first big surprises of the Genographic Project, for instance, is the discovery that the initial journey out of Africa may not have been through the “northern route” of the Sinai Peninsula and Middle East, as initially proposed. Instead, they seem to have moved out of Africa by a “southern route” at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits at the mouth of the Red Sea separating East Africa from southern Arabia.

This migration may have required boats to traverse the shallow waters that would have existed there 60,000 years ago. But even with this apparent physical obstacle, scientists believe that the DNA analysis of the female X chromosome of present-day humans suggests it is still the most likely route taken out of Africa. “This was really the first study that had used that kind of genetic information to look at global patterns of human variability,” said Spencer Wells, director of the Genographic Project and explorer-in-residence at National Geographic, one of the project’s sponsors.

“What it confirmed was that the earliest migration out of Africa, and probably the major migration, had gone out through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to India. There could have been subsequent migrations out via the Middle East but certainly the majority of people trace back to that original migration event, and we’re still tracing out the details of exactly what happened.”

The DNA evidence shows clearly and unequivocally that Africa was the homeland of anatomically modern humans, neat, independent confirmation of the palaeontology. The genetic variation within people living in Africa, which is related to the length of time spent on the continent, is greater than all the variation in the rest of the world put together. “We see more variation in Africa than in any other group so that tells us we’ve been accumulating variation for longer than in any other group,” Dr Wells added.

“Outside of Africa, we see more variation in India than anywhere else which tells use we’ve been living in India for longer than any other place outside Africa. The question is, how many waves of migration out of Africa were there, and what were the timings of those events?”

The information being gathered by the Genographic Project is starting to put dates to the key crossroads in the greatest journey of human history.

The Maternal Journey of Mitochondrial DNA

The haplogroups of our five UK-resident volunteers originated from different parts of the world many thousands of years ago.

Lionel Shriver, American author: V haplogroup

One of the great migrations west from Central Asia eventually resulted in the haplogroups found in western Europe. Lionel Shriver’s V haplogroup is relatively new, probably about 15,000 years old, suggesting that it came about as the ice sheets retreated at the end of the Ice Age, allowing small bands of early Europeans to expand their range from their southern refuges into the ice-free territories further north.

Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-born businessman

H haplogroup: Closely related to the V haplogroup, the H group of Evgeny Lebedev is one of several that are associated with the European expansion that occurred at the end of the Ice Age. This colonisation is associated with the spread of the Aurignacian culture, which is known for significant innovations in the design and use of tools. H is considered a western European lineage, but it is also found further east.

Bonnie Greer, British-American author

L3 (Subclade L3b): The “L” haplogroup is closest to “Mitochondrial Eve”, a woman who lived about 150,000-170,000 years ago. It is commonly found among Africans today. The L3 subclade of Bonnie Greer’s maternal line eventually left Africa about 60,000 years ago and is ancestral to all non-African mitochondrial groups.

Shazia Mirza, British-Asian comedian: M haplogroup

The M haplogroup of Shazia Mirza is one of two that are known to have split off from the L3 group soon after emerging from Africa. People carrying the M haplogroup are likely to have travelled across the Bab-el Mandeb Straits into Arabia from the Horn of Africa. From there they went on to populate India, south Asia and Australia. The Mhaplogroup is common in southern parts of Pakistan and north-west India.

Ching-He Huang, Taiwanese-born chef: B haplogroup:

The B haplogroup of Ching-He Huang is commonly found in East Asia and derives from a nomadic migration across the steppes of Central Asia between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal. It is about 50,000 years old, one of the founding populations of East Asia and today comprises about 1 in 5 of the Chinese population. It is also found among Polynesians and Native Americans, indicating just how far this ancient genetic group has travelled.

Indigenous tribes

In addition to analysing DNA from about 425,000 members of the public, the Genographic Project has so far taken about 75,000 DNA samples from indigenous tribes around the world. The aim is to study the genetic roots of traditional people to shed light on their origins and broader relationships with people living elsewhere.

Author: Steve Connor | Source: The Independent/UK [December 31, 2011]

Meanwhile, an Indiana state senator has introduced a bill that would allow school boards to require the teaching of creationism.

New Hampshire House Bill 1148 would “require evolution to be taught in the public schools of this state as a theory, including the theorists’ political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism.”

The second proposal in the New Hampshire House, HB 1457, does not mention evolution specifically but would “require science teachers to instruct pupils that proper scientific inquire [sic] results from not committing to any one theory or hypothesis, no matter how firmly it appears to be established, and that scientific and technological innovations based on new evidence can challenge accepted scientific theories or modes.”

Innovation can indeed overturn old ideas, but the theory of evolution is too well-established to be tossed out like yesterday’s garbage, scientists say.

“Bill 1457 turns skepticism into bewilderment,” said Zen Faulkes, a biology professor at the University of Texas, Pan America. “It would ask teachers to say to students, ‘Don’t commit to the hypothesis that uranium has more protons than carbon,’ or ‘Remember, kids, tomorrow we might find out that DNA is not the main molecule that carries genetic information.’ Evolution is as much a fact as either of those things, so it should be taught with the same confidence.”

Religion and science

The theory of evolution has become a flashpoint for religious conservatives, many of whom argue that the idea of life evolving over billions of years clashes with Biblical beliefs. Republican State Rep. Gary Hopper, who with his Republican district mate John Burt introduced HB 1457, told the Concord Monitor that the theory of evolution teaches students that life is nothing but an accident.

“I want to introduce children to the idea that they have a purpose for being here,” Hopper told the newspaper.

Hopper said he would like to see intelligent design, or the idea that a creator sparked life’s development, taught in schools, but that he did not write the requirement into his bill because similar attempts have failed around the country.

Jerry Bergevin, a Republican who introduced HB 1148, went further, telling the Concord Monitor that atheism was linked to Nazism and the 1999 Columbine school shooting.

“I want the full portrait of evolution and the people who came up with the idea to be presented,” Bergevin said. “It’s a worldview and it’s godless.”

New Hampshire isn’t the only state where battle lines have been drawn over evolution. In 2011, at least seven states considered bills that would limit the teaching of evolution in public schools. Anti-evolution bills in the last several years have failed except in Louisiana. That 2008 law gives teachers the right to bring in supplemental classroom materials that teach ideas contrary to established science in fields including evolution, climate change and the origin of life.

Doomed to failure?

New Hampshire’s two bills are set for hearings in the state’s House Education Committee in February. Nashua Telegraph columnist David Brooks, who has been following their course, said bills related to evolution in public schools are rare in the state. The last time evolution was an issue was in 1994.

Brooks added that New Hampshire, with 1.3 million people, has 400 state representatives, each of whom gets paid $100 a year to serve. “Most of them are volunteers, many of them are retirees, so a lot of unusual bills get proposed,” Brooks told LiveScience. “So the fact that an unusual bill gets proposed in New Hampshire is not always as big a deal as it would be in other states.”

Indiana’s proposal, state Senate Bill 89, would require that “the governing body of a school corporation may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science, within the school corporation.”

“This is a bill that directly promotes that teaching of creation science,” said Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, Calif., that defends the teaching of evolution and climate change in public schools.

“What a dinosaur. Bills specifically saying ‘Thou shalt teach creation science’ haven’t been around for a couple of decades,” Scott told LiveScience.

That’s because a 1987 Supreme Court decision in the case Edwards v. Aguillard found that teaching creationism as science in public schools is unconstitutional. Any laws passed requiring the teaching of creationism would thus be thrown out by the courts.

Nevertheless, Scott said, the NCSE is keeping a close eye on state legislatures around the country. The organization helps local groups oppose anti-evolution legislation.

“Teaching students that scientific explanations that are not controversial are controversial is mis-educating them,” Scott said. “And that’s why these bills are bad.”

Author: Stephanie Pappas | Source: LiveScience [January 01, 2011]

The excavations, which lasted for four weeks, from 31st of October until 25th of November 2011, were under the direction of the Curator of Antiquities, Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, helped by archaeologist Mrs Doria Nicolaou, Technician A’ Mrs M. Makri-Chamberlain and a team of six workers.

The main goal of this year’s excavation campaign was the continuation of the investigation in the south and southeast of the excavated area of the sugar mill’s installations. Also the excavation of the rectangular cistern which came to light during last year’s excavation season was concluded.

The stratigraphy of the cistern’s fill shows the sequence of two different layers, a fact that could prove that after the abandonment phase the fill of earth has been realized at once and not gradually. Its maximum depth is 2.25 m. This cistern, unlike the other one which was found further to the east, preserves some interesting cuttings at the bottom related to its use.

The cavities present on the two lateral sides of both cisterns are hewn quite in the middle of each side. A piece of metal, 0,30 m. long, was found embedded in the northern cavity and it is probably related to a mechanism that served its use.

The movable finds in the respective layers consist of a great number of broken sugar vessels, mostly of the conical type. One sherd (rim) bears an interesting rough incision of the representation of a schematic tree.

The only table ware found in the fill was a fragment of a dark green glazed ware. The movable finds consisted apart from the ceramics, some iron nails. The skeletal remains of a small animal were also unearthed in the same layer.

The archaeological investigation continued to the west of the above mentioned cistern where two perpendicular walls were already visible in the southwest corner of the section before the excavation.

These are very rough constructions, built on a higher level than that of the sugar mill’s installations and constitute later interventions.

To the north of the wall, a crude pavement of white mortar was traced, which consists the most recent evidence of human activity before the fill, dating back to the colonial period.

The archaeological layer beneath this floor brought to light some interesting features which could be related to a metallurgical workshop, taking into account the huge amount of slag found in the corresponding layer. A rectangular feature came to light, constituted by one course of stones.

Worked stones were used in its borders, since the interior was filled with smaller, not worked stones. No plaster was used for its construction. It measures 1,35 m. x 1,24 m. and its height is between 0.20 m. – 0.30 m.

Above this feature, a red, very hard, compact layer of approximately 0,50 m. thick, a result of mud-bricks’ overlay, was excavated. A great quantity of ash and slag to the west of the feature suggests the existence of a hearth, roughly delimited by stones and bricks.

Burning traces (charcoal and ashes) as well as slag residues were excavated all around the rectangular feature. The floor, on which the feature is constructed, is constituted by burnt bricks, some stones, grey mortar and the bedrock at the northwest part of the section.

In the corresponding layer of the section which extends to the north, excavated during last year’s season, a similar layer came to light. The only chronological indication provided in this area were the fragments of a majolica plate. The research will continue next year in order to clarify the older layers related to the sugar mill’s activities.

This year’s excavation extended also to the west of the vaulted building of the refinery. A pavement, made of slabs and pebbles, preserved in a very good condition, was brought to light. A wall which runs parallel to the west of the western wall of the refinery determines the pavement’s eastern limits. This pavement seems to extend to the south and west, where the excavation will continue next year.

Source: Cyprus Expat [January 06, 2012]

Atlel association is starting excavation works in collaboration with UNESCO and the National Institute of Heritage in Tunis to draw attention to these ruins. The monuments that will be protected include Castilia – an entrance to a Roman city that excavations might unveil, and Seven Wells – a Roman site consisting of wells used for irrigation and agriculture. The site is located next to an industrial zone, and has been unprotected since the 1990s.

Atlel will try to integrate the Roman sites in M’hassen and Deguech to the touristic and cultural tours of the region to aid in job creation. Atlel is also attempting to protect Islamic monuments, such as Ezzarkane Mosque – one of the oldest mausoleums in the region of Djerid, built in the eighth century during the Arab conquest of North Africa.

UNESCO is allocating 100,000 Tunisian dinars to restoration and maintenance works. These works include the reconstruction of some walls and the preparation of hiking tracks to ease access to the sites.

Author: Houda Mzioudet | Source: Tunisia Live Net [January 06, 2012]

The precious-metals billionaire, who plans to run in this year’s presidential elections in Russia as an independent candidate, has set his sights on buying the ruins of the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento’s famed Valley of the Temples, according to media reports.

But Agrigento Mayor Marco Zambuto has moved to nip the notion in the bud.

”I wouldn’t sell the Temple of Zeus even for 40 billion euros, the figure Premier Mario Monti had to find to save Italy’s finances,” Zambuto said referring to the government’s austerity package, which was actually nearer to 30 billion.

”It’s simply unthinkable that a billionaire could buy our historical wonders and take them to their own country”.

Zambuto said, however, that the city was interested in attracting foreign investment in the UNESCO World Heritage site.

[youtube width="500" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1aoS1wg8Gc[/youtube]

”It’s a different matter if we are talking about turning over management (of sites) for events or initiatives, or even the sponsorship of renovations and maintenance of the temples and sanctuaries in the valley,” he said. ”I don’t rule out this option”. The seven Doric temples at Agrigento, most of which probably date from the fifth century BC, are one of the glories of Magna Graecia, a swathe of southern Italy which was once dotted with wealthy and culturally lavish Greek cities.

The name Valley of the Temples is misleading as the site is located on a ridge on the edge of Agrigento.

”The history of the Valley of the Temples goes back thousands of years and the site is one of the few historic remains of Magna Graecia,” added Zambuto.

”If a private sponsor intends to finance a restoration, it’s welcome. Our door is always open to this type of proposal”.

Source: ANSA [January 05, 2012]