Pigeons have taken roost in the eyes and ears of the Sphinx, where they are pecking away at the calcium-rich stone and leaving behind acidic droppings. This article outlines the history of conservation efforts, and calls for action to protect the monument from this new feathered threat.

The jaw of a mouse may help scientists identify the origin of a Bronze Age shipwreck carrying an international cargo. The molars from the Mus musculus domesticus resemble those of modern house mice in Syria.  

More information on the Neolithic artifacts revealed by the melting Schnidejoch glacier in the Swiss Alps is now available from the Associated Foreign Press. There are also photographs of the 6,000-year-old piece of leather and the birch-bark quiver that were found. “We know now that the discoveries on Schnidejoch are the oldest of this kind ever made in the Alps. For us, the site itself is the most important find because we have this correlation between climate change and archaeological objects,” said archaeologist Albert Hafner.  

A 25-foot long piece of the keel and stern of a nineteenth-century ship washed ashore in Ocean City, Maryland. The wreck’s wood is in good condition, and had probably been buried under the sea floor. “There is no way of knowing where it came from or where the rest of it is. It could have been unearthed by a storm or some dredging activity and drifted down the coast,” said state maritime archaeologist Susan Langley.  

Judge Kathleen Watanabe will have to decide whether or not to halt the construction of an ocean-front house on a lot where 30 ancient Hawaiian burials have been found. “The biggest problem is the law does not go far enough to protect these burials. Perhaps the best thing that will come out of this case will be some changes in the law,” she said.

British researcher William Battersby thinks that the lead poisoning suffered by the crews of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror may have been caused by water systems constructed with lead pipes.   

The three intact Wari mummies discovered in Lima’s Huaca Pucllana ruins last month were X-rayed.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, September 5, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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