The burials of 11 people and 16 farm animals have been unearthed in northern Greece. “It is the first time that this strange custom is found at such a scale, and from this particular period of time, the late sixth century and early fifth century B.C.,” said archaeologist Georgia Karamitrou-Mentesidi.

The mud-brick walls of what is thought to be the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Peru have been uncovered in the northern coastal city of Piura. This first Spanish settlement became known as San Miguel. The church and its altar date to 1534.

The Inca used political alliances and ideology to conquer other groups more often than warfare, according to a study of war-related head injuries found on skeletons at Inca-controlled sites near Cuzco, Peru.

In Russia’s Altai Mountains, archaeologists have used a Microdrone md4-200 to take aerial photographs of a looted Scythian burial mound, or kurgan. “The 3-D model we created gives us the possibility to calculate the volume of the kurgan. With this volume and its precise dimensions, the original shape of the kurgan can be reconstructed,” said Marijn Hendrickx of the University of Ghent.

Dropping water levels at the Richland Chambers Reservoir in Corsicana, Texas, have exposed some 20 graves. Archaeologists think the site was a small cemetery for African Americans  that was mainly used during the nineteenth century.

Christopher Watts of the Royal Ontario Museum and Christine White and Fred Longstaffe of the University of Western Ontario analyzed the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes present in the tooth enamel of ten individuals whose remains were excavated from the Krieger site in 1949. Although archaeologists had found no evidence of substantial structures or agriculture, the new test results suggest that the Krieger residents consumed plenty of maize.

Ted Banning of the University of Toronto thinks that the monumental buildings in Gobekli, Turkey, could have been used as residences for a large population. It has been argued that the buildings represent the world’s oldest temples.

Archaeologists and volunteers will excavate a footpath in southern England. “There are strong reasons to suggest there is a Roman road buried here because the path is on a land boundary between different estates,” explained project officer Ben Buxton.

Here’s more information on the Roman fort discovered at a construction site in Camelon, Scotland.

The two pieces of Weary Herakles have been reunited in Antalya, Turkey, where the complete statue was unveiled over the weekend.

At the Aztec site of Templo Mayor in Mexico City, archaeologists have discovered a large, round ceremonial platform decorated with carvings of snake heads. Spanish historical documents say that Aztec rulers were cremated on such a structure. “Archaeologists are inching closer and closer to finding an Aztec royal tomb,” commented Michael Smith of Arizona State University.

The graves of three women have been unearthed within a ringed ditch in Kent, England. An unusual, three-part pot was found with one set of remains. “This comes after many years in which archaeologists believed there were no henges in south-east England at all,” noted archaeologist Mike Pitts.

In a smuggling bust, Greek police recovered more than 70 artifacts, including four helmets and gold funerary masks, a diadem, and an iron sword decorated with gold leaf.

Payson Sheets of the University of Colorado has been excavating the Maya village of Ceren in El Salvador for the past 30 years. The village was encapsulated in volcanic ash 1,400 years ago, but no human remains have ever been found. This past summer, his team uncovered a wide road that may have made for an easy getaway. “It’s possible almost everybody escaped and survived,” he explained.

A bacteriologist at New York University unearthed a 100-year-old time capsule at Bellevue Hospital Medical College that contained a vial of Clostridium perfringens. Dr. Martin Blaser wants to know if antibiotics have changed the structure of the once dangerous bacteria.

Developing the tourism industry has become a priority in Turkey. Some are concerned that the push to excavate archaeological sites could turn them into “Disney-style attractions.”

An ancient coat was found in a melting glacier in Norway’s Breheimen National Park this past summer. “It is well-used, and has a few tears that have been patched together,” said Marianne Vedeler of the Museum of Cultural History.

Archaeological sites in New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument have reopened. Fire and flooding closed the sites to visitors after being closed for three months.