Michelle Moran's Blog, page 65

Forensics reunites French king and his head

By Maria Cheng

LONDON—After nine months of tests, researchers in France have identified the head of France's King Henry IV, who was assassinated in 1610 aged 57.

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2,400-Year-Old Pot of Soup Found in Chinese Tomb

By Theunis Bates

Wondering what to do with those slowly molding Thanksgiving leftovers festering at the back of your fridge? Well, if you let them rot for another few thousand years, they could become an important archaeological treasure.

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Gales unearth Roman-era statue on Israel's coast

(Reuters) - A Roman statue that had been buried for centuries has been unearthed by the winter gales that have raked Israel's coast. The white-marble figure of a woman in toga and sandals was found in the remains of a cliff that crumbled under the force of winds, waves and rain at the ancient port of Ashkelon, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday.

The real-life Da Vinci Code: Historians discover tiny numbers and letters in the eyes of the Mona Lisa

Art historians are probing a real-life Da Vinci Code style mystery after discovering tiny numbers and letters painted into the eyes of the artist's enigmatic Mona Lisa painting.

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What's inside? Sealed jar discovered at Qumran – site of Dead Sea Scrolls

An intact, sealed, jar has been discovered at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in nearby caves.

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Was Medieval England more Merrie than thought?

LONDON (Reuters) – Maybe being a serf or a villein in the Middle Ages was not such a grim existence as it seems. Medieval England was not only far more prosperous than previously believed, it also actually boasted an average income that would be more than double the average per capita income of the world's poorest nations today, according to new research.

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Roman Museum Saved In Canterbury, Kent, UK

The fight to save the Roman Museum has been won thanks to public support and better marketing. Canterbury council sparked outrage last year when it said three of the city's museums, including the Roman Museum in Butchery Lane, would have to close as part of a round of budget cuts.

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'Vandals have hacked at the heart of Christianity': 2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury is cut down

Luke Salked

Standing proudly on the side of an English hill, its religious roots go back 2,000 years. But a single night of vandalism has left an ancient site of pilgrimage in splinters.

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Egyptian Bones Could Help Solve Canine Conundrum

Scientists are still trying to explain how the gray wolf could evolve into over 400 breeds of dogs, ranging from the pug to the pinscher. One aid in solving this riddle has been found in an unlikely place: a giant animal shrine from ancient Egypt.

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Heathen Buried in Iceland, 1,100 Years Post-Mortem

A burial took place in Reykjanesbaer municipality in southwest Iceland yesterday. The news wouldn't have had any special significance if not for the fact that the person buried, an ancient heathen, passed away 1,100 years ago and the ceremony took place inside the Viking World museum.

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