Mysterious burial pit with ‘child, donkey, goat, cat and bird’ skeletons on top of each other inside leaves archaeologists baffled
Archaeology Mystery of TombTHE REMAINS of an ancient child buried for centuries under the historical town of Silves in Portugal have finally been revealed by archaeologists. The find is so unusual because the child appears to have been ‘dumped’ there and stacked up between the remains of several animals including a horse, a sheep or goat, a cat…
First European farmers’ heights did not meet expectations
Archaeology Mystery of TombA combined study of genetics and skeletal remains show that the switch from primarily hunting, gathering and foraging to farming about 12,000 years ago in Europe may have had negative health effects as indicated by shorter than expected heights in the earliest farmers, according to an international team of researchers. “Recent studies tried to characterize…
A study discovers a surprising relationship between the teeth and the evolution of pregnancy
Archaeology Mystery of TombHumans have the highest prenatal growth rate of all extant primates, but how this exceptional rate came about has been a mystery up to now. Leslea Hlusko, a scientist at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has participated in a study led by Tesla Monson, a paleoanthropologist at Western Washington University…
Researcher performs forensic anthropological analysis on Baroque-period marble sculpture
History and ArcheoloryHow did Baroque period artists/sculptors go about their craft? For the first time, researchers have performed a forensic anthropological analysis of a marble skull carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The analysis of this re-discovered sculpture in Dresden, Germany, may help capture details of the working methods of great artists of the past, including details not…
Most detailed study to date of gut contents of Tollund Man
Archaeology Mystery of TombA team of researchers from Denmark’s Museum Silkeborg, the National Museum of Denmark, Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus University, has conducted the most detailed study to date of Tollund Man’s stomach and intestinal contents. In their paper published in the journal Antiquity, the group describes their in-depth study of the famous “bog body.” In 1950 a mummified…
Joint burial of two 1,500-year-old skeletons offers a look into attitudes toward love and the afterlife
History and ArcheoloryOn the left side of the grave, the male skeleton lays with one arm outstretched, holding the abdomen of the female skeleton by its side. The woman’s face is pressed into his shoulder, left hand resting across his waist; on her fourth finger is a simple silver ring. The postures of the skeletons, which were…
Discovery of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture
Archaeology Mystery of TombA team of archeologists in northern Peru discovered the remains of 29 people, including three children, that could help experts rewrite the history of the pre-Incan Wari civilization, the lead researcher said on Friday. The skeletons were buried more than 1,000 years ago in Huaca Santa Rosa de Pucala, an ancient ceremonial center in the…
International researchers confirm museum shrunken head as human remains
History and ArcheoloryResearchers from Western University have verified the authenticity of a South American tsantsa (shrunken head) as human remains, an important step in the global effort toward decolonization and preserving and understanding Indigenous history. The findings were published today in the high impact journal PLOS One. Using clinical computed tomography (CT) and high-resolution micro-CT scans, researchers were…
Researchers find 3,000-year-old shark attack victim
History and ArcheoloryNewspapers regularly carry stories of terrifying shark attacks, but in a paper published today, Oxford-led researchers reveal their discovery of a 3,000-year-old victim—attacked by a shark in the Seto Inland Sea of the Japanese archipelago. Original excavation photograph of Tsukumo No. 24, courtesy of the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Kyoto University. Credit: Kyoto University The…
The surprising origins of the Tarim Basin mummies
Archaeology Mystery of TombAs part of the Silk Road and located at the geographical intersection of Eastern and Western cultures, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has long served as a major crossroads for trans-Eurasian exchanges of people, cultures, agriculture, and languages. Since the late 1990s, the discovery of hundreds of naturally mummified human remains dating to circa 2,000…