Michelle Moran's Blog, page 87

Ancient artifacts revealed as northern ice patches melt

YELLOWKNIFE, NT – APRIL 2010 – High in the Mackenzie Mountains, scientists are finding a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools being revealed as warming temperatures melt patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years.

Read the rest on Eurekalert.

Grim convict past revealed in archaeological dig

A recent archaeological dig on Tasmania's remote west coast promises to shed more light on one of Australia's most notorious penal outposts. Although it only operated for eleven years before being closed in 1833, Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour had a reputation as one of the British Empire's most hellish prisons.

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"Noah's Ark" Found In Tukey?

THE remains of Noah's Ark have been discovered 13,000ft up a Turkish mountain, it has been claimed. A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say they have found wooden remains on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. Read the rest on The Sun.

Dawn of Urban Life Uncovered in Syria

by Rossella Lorenzi

Before the invention of the wheel and writing, a prehistoric civilization in northern Mesopotamia engaged in trade, processed copper and developed the first social classes based on power and wealth.

Read the rest on Discovery.

Probing Question: What can we learn from Neanderthal DNA?

What can we learn from the DNA of extinct humans?

"It can tell us a story about human history," says Webb Miller, Penn State professor of biology and computer science. Miller has been a leader in several major genome sequencing projects, which decipher the genetic code of all the chromosomes of an individual. Comparing the DNA sequences of modern and ancient humans can show us similarities and differences in our basic biology, he notes.

Read the rest here.

Roman altar stones unearthed at Scottish cricket ground

Inscriptions may reveal information about life in Roman times

Roman altar stones dating back almost 2000 years have been found at a cricket pavilion in Musselburgh, East Lothian.

Read the rest on the BBC.

Laser to scan Robin Hood's prison under Nottingham city

The dungeon believed to have housed Robin Hood when he was caught by the Sheriff of Nottingham is to be surveyed using a laser. It is part of a major project to explore every cave in Nottingham.

Read the rest on the BBC.

Egypt dig uncovers coins more than 2,250 years old

Archaeologists have uncovered bronze coins bearing the image of ancient Egyptian ruler King Ptolemy III in an oasis south of the capital, the culture ministry announced on Thursday.

Read the rest here.

'Ancient IKEA building' discovered by Italian archaeologists

by Richard Owen

Italian archaeologists have found the ruins of a 6th-century BC Greek temple-like structure in southern Italy that came with detailed assembly instructions and is being called an "ancient IKEA building".

Read the rest on the Times.

Ancient Hominids Had Human-Like Grip

A tiny fossil thumb bone provides a gripping look at the early evolution of human hands, according to a study presented April 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. An upright gait and a relatively sophisticated ability to manipulate objects apparently evolved in tandem among the earliest hominids at least 6 million years ago, said Sergio Almécijaof the Autonomous University of Barcelona. That's well before the earliest evidence of stone...