Experimental archaeologist Metin I. Eren of Southern Methodist University has been able to craft bamboo tools with simple stone tools, including knives capable of cutting meat, but not hides. “Our research does not debunk the idea that prehistoric people could have made and used bamboo implements, but instead suggests that upon arriving in East and Southeast Asia they probably did not start churning out all of their tools on bamboo raw materials either,” he explained. 

A skull showing signs of leprosy and a fatal head wound has been discovered in a soldiers’ cemetery in central Italy. Other skulls from the medieval cemetery bear evidence of surgical intervention. 

Archaeologists in Prague have reportedly claimed to have uncovered what has been called a “gay caveman” in the press, but scientists around the world hesitate to label the unusual Corded Ware culture burial. “We found one very specific grave of a man lying in the position of a woman, without gender specific grave goods, neither jewelry or weapons,” said lead archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova of the Czech Archaeological Society. Some question if the skeleton is male, and others add that third-gender claims are “difficult to evaluate without a formal archaeological description.” 

Four sets of human remains recovered from various sites in Vietnam will be flown to the US Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for identification. The remains are thought to have belonged to servicemen killed in aircraft crashes during the Vietnam War.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, April 8, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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