Archaeologists began cataloging items that had been recovered from the World Trade Center site in 2006. “What we are getting at is that archaeology pulls together lost moments of time and that archaeology defines history,” said Kate Quinn of the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Libya’s new minister for antiquities, Fadel Ali Mohammed, visited Sabratha and other ancient cities, where he looked for damage from combat.

Conservators carefully scraping off layers of plaster from a wall at the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk  discovered a painting. “It is by far the most intricate and elaborate painting we have found during our excavations here since the mid-90s,” said Ian Hodder of Stanford University.

Australopithecus sediba exhibits a mix of human-like and primitive anatomical features. Could Australopithecus sediba be a direct human ancestor?  Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum explains the differences and similarities between an Australopithecus sediba skull and modern humans in this video from BBC News. 

Have you lost your best scraper? Retired archaeologist Terry Powell makes replicas of prehistoric stone tools in his workshop.

At the site of Yesilova Höyügü in western Turkey, archaeologists have found fingerprints on clay pots that are thought to have been left by women and children 8,000 years ago.

Three ancient tombs have reportedly been found in Romania.

While assisting in the clean up after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, archaeologists have had access to shipwrecks, a coastal plantation, and a nineteenth-century military fort, in addition to sites occupied by the Gulf Coast mound people.

Archaeologists from the University of Manchester are excavating Whitworth Park, which opened in 1890. “It was a colorful place, filled with elaborate flowerbeds and walkways, to promote the health and wellbeing of adults and children from all social classes,” said Melanie Giles.

Discovery News offers more information on how the eighteenth-century ship uncovered at the World Trade Center site in New York City was constructed.