A small limestone statue of Akhenaten has reportedly been recovered and returned to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

A new study of the 28-foot-high Neolithic tower at the site of Tel Jericho supports the idea that it was built to align with a nearby mountain and the sunset on the longest day of the year. “This was a time when hierarchy began and leadership was established. We believe this tower was one of the mechanisms to motivate people to take part in a communal lifestyle,” said Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University.  

Meet artist Benjamin Neiditz, who recreated the mummies for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology when the Chinese government pulled the real thing from “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibition.  

A new model of Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old man discovered in the Alps 20 years ago, will sport brown eyes rather than blue ones. The model will be exhibited at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.  

Signs of cannibalism, including three cups made from human skulls, have been identified among the 15,000-year-old bones from Gough’s Cave in southwestern England. “It’s impossible to know how the skull-cups were used back then, but in recent examples they may hold blood, wine, or food during rituals,” said Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum.  

A construction project in northeastern Hungary has revealed a Bronze Age settlement, a Sarmatian burial ground, and one hundred Magyar graves.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, February 17, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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