More than 14,000 human skeleton fragments have been unearthed at the Sacred Ridge site in Colorado. Archaeologists think that the bones indicate genocide between different Anasazi Ancestral Puebloan ethnic groups. “All evidence points to a rapid event, which is only possible with coordination and complicity within the community,” said Jason Chuipka of Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants.  

In Israel, an image of the Greek goddess of fortune and another of a maenad were found within the home of a wealthy family in the town of Sussita, located on the Sea of Galilee. “It is interesting to see that although the private residence in which the two goddesses were found was in existence during the Byzantine period, when Christianity negated and eradicated idolatrous cults, one can still find clear evidence of earlier beliefs,” wrote Arthur Segal and Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology.  At Beit Shean, a 1,500-year-old Samaritan synagogue and a farm were uncovered.  And, at the site of Tel Dor, a bronze signet ring bearing the image of Apollo was unearthed. The ring dates to the fourth or third century B.C.  

A planned gold mining project in Romania threatens to destroy the Rosia Montana site, known for its Roman mining tunnels.  

More than 600 Iraqi artifacts that had been stolen, returned, and then misplaced have been rediscovered in a storage area at the prime minister’s office.  

A cache of seventh-century silver coins from the areas that are now Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and northern Africa has been unearthed in northern Germany. “Viking raids there were common at the time, which may be one reason why the treasure was hidden,” said Fred Ruchhöft of the University of Greifswald.  

Ten 2,500-year-old chess pieces are said to have been found in a tomb in China’s Hebei province.  

An administrative seal believed to be 8,000 years old has been unearthed in western Turkey.  

A rare seal from a seventeenth-century bottle of mineral water was uncovered at the site of Fetternear House, a former grand mansion in Aberdeen, Scotland. The bottle had come from the River Weser area of Germany.  

Television personality Bear Grylls claims to have discovered bones, charred wood, and other artifacts on a small, unnamed island in Arctic waters. “If analysis and study end up showing that it is related to Franklin, then it could be important – as would be any find related to this story. However, we will have to wait to get more information,” explained Marc-Andre Bernier of Parks Canada.

In 2001, 362 cuneiform tablets that had been smuggled into New Jersey were stopped by U.S. Customs officials and put in storage at the very bottom of one of the twin towers at the World Trade Center. When the buildings were destroyed on September 11, the tablets were crumbled and soaked with water. Earlier this month, the reassembled tablets were returned to Iraq.

Thirty-seven Iron Age tombs have been discovered in Greece, near the ancient Macedonian capital of Pellas. The artifacts from the few of the tombs that have been excavated include iron swords, spears, and daggers; pottery; jewelry made of gold, silver, and iron; and a bronze helmet trimmed in gold and a gold mouth plate.  

Eight fragments of limestone inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics were spotted in an antiques shop in Spain by a scholar from the University of Barcelona. The artifacts had been looted from Saqqara in 1999 and will be returned to the Egyptian government.  

A stone slab carved in the thirteenth century has been taken from a remote village in the state of Goa, India. The carvings tell the story of a local hero’s death in battle.  

Ray Norris, an astronomer for Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, thinks that Australia’s Aborigines may have been the world’s first astronomers. “We’ve established there is all this astronomy, what I don’t know is how far back this goes,” he said.  

One of the oldest skeletons in the Americas has been recovered from an undersea cave along Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The caves filled with water as the ice caps melted at least 10,000 years ago. Researchers think that after the bones have been carefully dried out, they may shed light on the populating of the Americas.  

Discovery News has more information on the tomb of Karakhamun, which was recently rediscovered in Luxor.  

In Maui, archaeology students are assisting with the excavation of Moku’ula, the ancient political and spiritual center of the Hawaiian Islands. Plantation managers filled in the sacred site in 1914.  

And, there’s more information on the royal box at King Herod’s private theater in Israel.  

A rare iron-working furnace has been unearthed in the north of Scotland. “At the moment we don’t even know whether it’s prehistoric or medieval,” said archaeologist Matt Ritchie.  

Some 100 rock art sites have been found in Somaliland, including a 4,000-year-old image of a man on horseback, and 5,000-year-old depictions of horned cattle, sheep, and goats. “With wars, droughts and piracy in Somalia, hardly anyone has researched the archaeology until now. But it’s absolutely full of extraordinarily well-preserved rock art,” said Sada Mire of University College London and a UN consultant for Somaliland.  

The trial of Raphael Golb has begun in New York. Golb is accused of setting up an alleged email smear campaign against Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Lawrence Schiffman of New York University, whose opinion on the origins of the scrolls differs from Golb’s father, Norman Golb of Chicago University.