Tests have shown that a black substance found within a bronze pot in a tomb in China’s Shaanxi Province is a portion of dried beef. The beef is approximately 2,000 years old, making it the oldest beef product to have been found in China.

Five people were arrested in Nepal after police received a tip on a gang trading in ancient Buddha statues. The five were caught at a hotel where they had planned to sell a bronze Buddha to a wealthy client. If convicted, they could receive up to five years in jail and a hefty fine.

Following a tip from a potential witness, police are looking for the remains of former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa beneath a driveway in Roseville, Michigan. They have taken soil samples from the site to David Foran of Michigan State University. “They can put it progressively through smaller-sized screens, pull up particles, and examine those visually and microscopically and determine if they could be bone,” he explained. Hoffa disappeared in 1975.

Brendan Foley of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Theotokis Theodoulou of Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities are among the archaeologists who will return to the treacherous, deep seas surrounding the tiny island of Antikythera, where the Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in 1900. At the time, sponge divers retrieved weapons, jewelry, furniture, and statues from a ship that sank 2,000 years earlier. They also recovered a lump of concretion containing the curious device that calculates the movements of the heavenly bodies and the timing of athletic events. The scientists hope to learn more about the device and possible find another one by visiting the site of the shipwreck. “Everyone is very, very excited. This ought to be extraordinary,” said Foley.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, October 2, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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