Scholars at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey are working on their country's first astronomy heritage list, the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO said. A Turkish cultural site list related to astronomy is part of a UN initiative to declare 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. The list is likely to include the ancient city Ptara, where astronomers observed the first accurately predicted solar eclipse in 585 BC.

Romanian archaeologists discovered a necropolis with about 350 graves from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD near Alba Iulia, Romania. The recent discovery might provide valuable proof of the Roman influence in Dacia during the first centuries after the birth of Christ. Experts called it the greatest archaeological discovery yet in the area of Alba Iulia, saying it proves the existence of the city since ancient times.