Michelle Moran's Blog, page 63

Lincoln Pardon Altered to Change History: Big Pic

Talk about revisionist history. Thomas Lowry, a long-time Lincoln researcher from Woodbridge, Va., has confessed to altering the date on a pardon issued by President Abraham Lincoln, which is currently part of the permanent records collection of the U.S. National Archives.

Read the rest here.

Bog bodies baffle scientists

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

Scholars have long tried to make sense out of one of the oddities of the archaeological world —bodies pulled from ignominious burials in cold water bogs everywhere from Ireland to Russia.
Read the rest here.

Caligula's tomb found after police arrest man trying to smuggle statue

by Tom Kington

The lost tomb of Caligula has been found, according to Italian police, after the arrest of a man trying to smuggle abroad a statue of the notorious Roman emperor recovered from the site.

Read the rest here.

Tutankhamen's Tomb To Be Closed To Visitors

Time is running out to visit the tomb of Tutankhamen, as officials with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities have announced plans to close it to tourists by the end of the year.

Read the rest here.

Scientists trying to clone, resurrect extinct mammoth

Instead of Jurassic Park, try Pleistocene Park. A team of scientists from Japan, Russia and the United States hopes to clone a mammoth, a symbol of Earth's ice age that ended 12,000 years ago, according to a report in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun.

Read the rest here.

Blackbeard's Sword, Found! Archaeologists Discover Pirate Treasure Off North Carolina Coast

It's likely Edward Teach didn't need much to scare his enemies. After all, the notorious pirate better known as Blackbeard boasted a thick mass of facial hair so intimidating that it got immortalized in history.

Read the rest here.

Neanderthals and early modern humans had same lifespan

A new study by a Washington University in St. Louis suggests life expectancy was probably the same for early modern and late archaic humans and did not factor in the extinction of Neanderthals.

Read the rest here.

Did Famine Destroy 'Camelot'?

South Cadbury Castle is well known for its suspected association with King Arthur as the site of his infamous castle, Camelot. Excavations have shown that the site was indeed strengthened in the period formally known as the Dark Ages, at the time of the legendary Arthur. However, there is one question that remains an enigma – why was the site abandoned?

Read the rest here.

Dinosaur Graveyard Reveals Oldest T. Rex Relative: Dawn Runner

By Charles Q Choi

What may be the earliest known relative of T. rex and all meat-eating dinosaurs has been discovered.

Read the rest here.

Scientists discover 'oldest' winery in Armenian cave

by Brian Walker

(CNN) -- Forget France. It turns out, the real birthplace of wine may be in a cave in Armenia. An international research team says it has found the world's oldest winery in a paper published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Archaeological Science.

Read the rest here.