Cremation burials at Stonehenge may represent a single elite family and its descendents, according to a new study of the burials by Mike Parker-Pearson of the University of Sheffield. “Archaeologists have long speculated about whether Stonehenge was put up by prehistoric chiefs – perhaps even ancient royalty – and the new results suggest that not only is this likely to have been the case, but it also was the resting place of their mortal remains,” he said. Photographs and maps of Stonehenge and the cremation burials are available at National Geographic News.

Greenland’s three Eskimo cultures seem to have been generated by at least two separate migrations. Scientists learned of the second migration from the DNA analysis of a swatch of Paleo-Eskimo hair, which showed that its closest match was to people from the Commander Islands, near Siberia.   

Twelve historic farming tools were discovered among hundreds of fake artifacts in a home in Costa Rica during a murder investigation.  

A mummy found at Thebes will be x-rayed, and scientists will try to retrieve its DNA, to see if the remains could belong to Thutmose I. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, did not reveal what the mummy’s DNA will be compared to in the attempt to identify it.  

A mathematical model suggests that early hominids were driven to an upright, shuffling gait as a way to conserve metabolic energy while searching for food on the ground and hanging from low-hanging tree branches.  

Here’s an update on the Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group, organized by two professors from California. With the help of a mediator, the group has formulated a nonbinding model for the disposition of archaeological sites and artifacts should a peace deal be reached and a Palestinian state created. “We were very aware of the symbolic weight that archaeology carries in that part of the world,” said Lynn Dodd of USC.  

A Norwegian soldier returned home from Afghanistan with “a horde of cultural treasures,” but a museum in Oslo refused to accept the artifacts.  

Archaeologist David Wengrow of University College, London, thinks that the decorated seals used to close ancient jars acted as labels complete with marketing information for consumers.   But why stop at labels? This article on the mid-fourth-century B.C. wreck found off the coast of Cyprus refers to the distinctive shape of its wine jars. “We know Chios was famous for its high quality red wine, and we believe that the amphorae contained wine,” said archaeologist Stella Demesticha.  

The U.S. Navy’s research submarine will assist in the search for the Bonhomme Richard, John Paul Jones’ Revolutionary War ship which sank off the coast of England. “John Paul Jones is often considered the father of the U.S. Navy, and the Bonhomme Richard was his flagship,” explained Lt. James Stockman.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, May 30, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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