M.J. Rose

For a moment, let us pretend we are flying our broomsticks through 17th century London. Come on, you know you want to. Let’s go!

Prize-Winning Animation Lets You Fly Through 17th Century London

“Six students from De Montfort University have created a stellar 3D representation of 17th century London, as it existed before The Great Fire of 1666. The three-minute video provides a realistic animation of Tudor London, and particularly a section called Pudding Lane where the fire started. As Londonist notes, “Although most of the buildings are conjectural, the students used a realistic street pattern [taken from historical maps] and even included the hanging signs of genuine inns and businesses” mentioned in diaries from the period. For their efforts, the De Montfort team was awarded first prize in the Off the Map contest, a competition run by The British Library and video game developers GameCity and Crytek. You can find more information about how the animation came together over at the animators’ blog, plus at The British Library’s Digital Scholarship blog…”

Watch in amazement, below —

In case you missed this: Here’s the list of Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries of 2014. It was really, truly a spectacular year for incredible findings.

…And if reading about these unimaginable finds makes you long for your long lost imaginary life as an archaeologist, at least it’s the digital age and you can visit Ancient Egypt right this very moment — all you have to do is click here to travel through time and space. This will appease us for now, right?

Very big news from our beloved Egypt –

After Decades of Searching, the Causeway for the Great Pyramid of Egypt has been Found
(Ancient Origins)

“Dozens of foreign missions carried out over three decades using the latest high-tech instruments failed to find the causeway of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Now, unexpectedly, the passage has finally been located by a local resident living near the Giza Plateau, who was illegally digging beneath his home when he discovered a tunnel leading to the Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the three pyramids in Giza.

Arabic news source Ahram.org reports that a resident in the village of El Haraneya in Giza, a prohibited area for drilling, began digging beneath his house to a depth of about 10 meters (33 feet), when he discovered a passage consisting of huge stone blocks.

The Minister of Police for Tourism and Antiquities was alerted to the discovery and security forces immediately placed a cordon around the property.  The Ministry of Antiquities was notified of the incredible finding, and archaeologist Kamal Wahid was placed in charge of a committee to investigate. In its report, the committee confirms the finding of the corridor leading to the Great Pyramid, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza…”

– See more here.