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ScienceArchaeologyRailway Construction Exposes Iron Age ‘Murder Mystery,’ Among Other Finds
Preparatory work for a high-speed rail project in Britain has resulted in some interesting archaeological discoveries, including a 2,000-year-old skeleton thought to be a murder victim. Development of the UK’s High Speed 2 (HS2) railway system is still in its initial phases, with crews currently clearing sites in advance of primary construction. Once complete, the … Continued
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ScienceArchaeology16th-Century Child Skeletons With Coins in Their Mouths Found at Construction Site in Poland
Road crews in Poland stumbled upon a lost 16th-century cemetery, in which the vast majority of graves belong to children. Incredibly, some of the skeletons still have coins in their mouths, a tradition that dates back to ancient times. The cemetery was discovered in a wooded area currently being cleared for Poland’s S19 motorway, which … Continued
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ScienceArchaeologyThree African Skeletons Found in Mexico Show Horrors of Early Slavery in the New World
Three skeletons belonging to African individuals have been uncovered at a mass grave in Mexico City. They represent some of the first African people to be forcibly relocated to the New World. An interdisciplinary analysis of these remains is shedding new light on this grim period of history and the harsh conditions endured by the … Continued
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ScienceArchaeologyKneeling, Decapitated Skeleton Offers Evidence of Ancient Chinese Sacrificial Custom
Archaeologists in central China have unearthed a decapitated skeleton still resting in its final kneeling position. Such practices were hinted at in ancient Chinese scripts, but this discovery is further proof of this particular sacrificial rite. The discovery was made at the Chaizhuang site in Jiyuan, located in China’s Henan province, reports Xinhua, the country’s … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsGuy Gets Severed Arm Preserved by Taxidermist: ‘I Wanted to Do Something Cool’
Lots of people have two arms. Far fewer can say they have one on a shelf by their sink. A 37-year-old Canadian man recently joined this exclusive club, turning his amputated limb into a unique conversation piece thanks to a helpful taxidermist—and a hungry colony of beetles. 20 years ago, Mark Holmgren crashed on a … Continued
By Hudson Hongo -
ScienceArchaeologyInfant Skeletons Wearing ‘Helmets’ Made of Other Children’s Skulls Stun Archaeologists
Archaeologists in Ecuador have uncovered evidence of a previously undocumented funeral ritual, in which the heads of recently deceased infants were adorned with the skulls of other children. Scientists can only speculate as to the reasons why. The new study, published earlier this week in Latin American Antiquity, is understatedly titled “Unique Infant Mortuary Ritual … Continued
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ScienceArchaeologyFamous ‘Lovers of Modena’ Skeletons Were Young Men, New Analysis Finds
A new analysis of the Lovers of Modena—a pair of 1,600-year-old skeletons found buried with their hands clasped together—reveals the pair as being male, in a discovery unique to archaeology. Found 10 years ago in an Italian Late Antiquity cemetery, the Lovers of Modena were initially presumed to be a male and female couple. That … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsWhich Eccentric Millionaire Will Buy This Nearly Complete Diplodocus Skeleton That’s Going Up for Auction?
Thanks to modern paleontology techniques, finding dinosaur fossils isn’t as difficult or random as it once was. There are now more skeletons to go around, but unfortunately, based on an upcoming auction at the Parisian auction house Aguttes, you’ll still need a couple million dollars of disposable cash to add a dinosaur to your private … Continued
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ScienceArchaeologyTrove of Decapitated Skeletons in England Sparks Archaeological Mystery
Archaeologists are trying to figure out why so many bodies at a 1,700-year-old site in Suffolk, England, were buried alongside their decapitated heads. Excavations at Great Whelnetham are now complete, but for the archaeologists who participated on the project, the work is far from over. The dig at Great Whelnetham, near Bury St. Edmunds in … Continued
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ReviewsYear in Review
Skull Soup, Viking Tech, and More: The Wildest Archaeological Discoveries of 2018
Archaeologists dug up a lot of cool stuff in 2018, but they dug up a lot of weird, disgusting, and disturbing stuff as well. Here are the strangest archaeology stories the year had to offer. No doubt, 2018 was a banner year for archaeology. It was a year that witnessed the discovery of a 50,000-year-old … Continued
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ScienceArchaeology
Medieval Skeleton Wearing Leather Thigh-High Boots Found in River Thames
Archaeologists in London, England have uncovered a dramatic 500-year-old male skeleton lying face-down in the mud of the River Thames. Extraordinarily, the skeleton is still wearing his thigh-high leather boots. Researchers from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) stumbled upon the mysterious skeleton while conducting excavations at Chambers Wharf in Bermondsey, a site that’s being … Continued
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Tech NewsThe Rise of the Skeleton King, the ’80s Bone Dealer Who Changed Halloween
When Marshall Cordell started buying human bones in the late 1970s, he says a full skeleton from India cost “probably $199.” Back then, almost all real human skeletons came from India, and companies there sent him catalogs listing everything from skulls to finger bones for sale. “They were literally like an auto parts shop, only … Continued
By Hudson Hongo -
ScienceArchaeology
Greek Farmer Discovers 3,400 Year-Old Tomb Beneath His Olive Grove
Unbeknownst to a Greek farmer, a 3,400-year-old tomb containing two coffins and dozens of artifacts dating back to the Late Minoan era had been lying beneath his olive grove in southeast Crete. As reported in Cretapost, the unnamed farmer was trying to park his vehicle under the shade of an olive tree when the ground … Continued
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ScienceArchaeology
We’re Learning More About the Contents of that Mysterious Egyptian Sarcophagus
Back in July, Egyptian archaeologists dared to open a strange granite sarcophagus, finding three skeletons soaking in an unsightly reddish-brown liquid. Scientists have now completed a preliminary analysis of the coffin’s contents, offering new insights into the tomb’s 2,000-year-old occupants. The granite sarcophagus was discovered in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria, Egypt, on July … Continued
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ScienceArchaeology
Experts Say Recent ‘Alien’ Mummy Study Was Deeply Flawed and Unethical
Earlier this year, scientists from Stanford University concluded that a strange skeleton known as the Atacama Mummy belonged to a human girl whose physical malformations were the result of several severe genetic mutations. A team of international experts is now questioning these findings, and accusing the scientists of breaching standard research ethics. The Atacama Mummy, … Continued
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ScienceGenetics
‘Alien’ Mummy Found in Atacama Desert Is Actually a Tiny, Mutated Human
Back in 2003, a strange skeleton was discovered in a deserted Chilean town in the Atacama Desert. Featuring an elongated skull, sunken eye sockets, and an impossibly tiny body, some suggested it was of extraterrestrial origin. An updated genetic analysis confirms the skeleton as being human—but with an unprecedented variety of mutations. Preserved by dry … Continued
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Tech News
The Haunting Face of a Man Who Lived 700 Years Ago
This may look like a photograph, but the highly realistic face staring back at you belongs to a man who died over 700 years ago. The researchers who performed this unbelievable facial reconstruction say their work is providing new details about the way ordinary people lived in medieval England. This 13th-century man—dubbed “Context 958″—is one … Continued
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Tech News
Museum Finds Real Human Skull in 150-Year-Old Taxidermy Display
For more than a century, the taxidermy diorama “Arab Courier Attacked by Lions” has stood in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Depicting a man on camelback fending off Barbary lions, the bizarre display has intrigued—and repulsed—generations of visitors. Throughout all those years, however, the piece managed to keep a disturbing secret. During a restoration … Continued
By Hudson Hongo
