Royal retainers living at Machu Picchu came from different parts of the Inca empire. Analysis of their bones shows that the yanacona grew up drinking water from different sources and eating different foods. Their skulls also display regionally distinctive characteristics, and they had been buried with pottery made in far-flung parts of the empire. In […]

Analysis of residues of Roman garum, or fish sauce, found at the bottom of seven jars from Pompeii suggests that the date of August 24, 79 A.D. for the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius, recorded by Pliny the Younger, is accurate. The sauce had been made with a fish species that was abundant in the area during […]