Michelle Moran's Blog, page 85

Bideford mayor hunts US 'lost colony' clues

by Steven Morris

A mayor in north Devon is attempting to help rewrite American history by proving that people from his small port town settled in the US 30 years before the Pilgrim Fathers set sail.

Read the rest on the Guardian.

Stone inscription with Indus signs found in Gujarat

An inscription on stone, with three big Indus signs and possibly a fourth, has been found on the Harappan site of Dholavira in Gujarat. The discovery is significant because this is the first time that the Indus script has been found engraved on a natural stone in the Indus Valley. The Indus script has so far been found on seals made of steatite, terracotta tablets, ceramics and so on. Dholavira also enjoys the distinction of yielding a spectacularly large Indus script with 10 big...

More on how DNA reveals some of our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals

Neanderthal man is alive and well - and living on every high street in Britain, scientists say. An astonishing study has discovered that the ancestors of white Europeans and Asians bred with Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago - and their genes have been passed down the millennia ever since.

Read the rest on the Daily Mail.

University divers plumb new depths in Egypt

The UU divers were granted rare access to the ruins of the great lighthouse of Pharos

University of Ulster divers have been passing on their expertise to maritime archaeologists in the historic Egyptian port of Alexandria. Staff from the UU's maritime archaeology centre conducted a 10-day training workshop for 15 archaeologists from north and east Africa who wanted an insight into the challenges of working underwater.

Read the rest on the BBC.

More remains of Punic-Roman fortress found at Mdina

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Archaeological remains of the Punic-Roman fortress of Melite have been discovered during works on the Mdina bastions by the Resources Ministry.

Read the rest on the Times of Malta.

Ancient Artifacts Found in Albemarle County

Archaeologists recently made a potentially exciting discovery at an estate in Albemarle County. Buried artifacts found show that Native Americans possibly settled in the area 3,000 years ago on what's known now as Morven Farm. The University of Virginia Foundation owns Morven and last summer began phase one of the archaeological dig. The findings are giving researchers a better idea of who lived here a long time ago.

Read the rest here.

Maya Plumbing: First Pressurized Water Feature Found in New World

ScienceDaily — A water feature found in the Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, is the earliest known example of engineered water pressure in the new world, according to a collaboration between two Penn State researchers, an archaeologist and a hydrologist. How the Maya used the pressurized water is, however, still unknown.

Read the rest on Science Daily.

Headless Statue of Ancient Egyptian King‎ Unearthed

by Roseella Lorenzi

A headless granite statue of a Ptolemaic king has emerged from the ruins of an ancient Egyptian limestone temple believed to be the burial site of Queen Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony.

Read the rest on Discovery.

Resurrected Mammoth Blood Very Cool

Professor Alan Cooper is pictured here with a mammoth bone. (Credit: University of Adelaide)

ScienceDaily — A team of international researchers has brought the primary component of mammoth blood back to life using ancient DNA preserved in bones from Siberian specimens 25,000 to 43,000 years old.

Read the rest on Science Daily.

Burials Were Discovered at Tlatelolco

MEXICO CITY.- More than 130 burials, most likely from the 16th century, were found at the Great Base of Tlatelolco Archaeological Zone, in Mexico City, during the recent exploration season. The remains are being analyzed to determine their age.

Read the rest on Art Daily.