A “door to the afterlife” from the tomb of an advisor to Queen Hatshepsut was unearthed in Luxor, Egypt. The slab of red granite had been reused during the Roman period.

In South Saqqara, scientists are using the alignments of pyramids to look for the tomb of Userkare, the little-known second pharaoh of the sixth dynasty. “We are talking of meridian and diagonal alignments, with pyramids raised at their intersections. The only missing piece in this sort of grid is the pyramid of Userkare,” explained Giulio Magli of Milan’s Polytechnic University.  

In Greece, the graves of 21 individuals have been uncovered at Ayia Sotira, an agricultural community near the ancient city of Mycenae. The burials are notable because they are missing the wealthy burials full of gold and silver artifacts that are usually associated with Mycenae.   

A Neolithic village has been unearthed at Tal Bokrous, in northeastern Syria. “The number of the unearthed houses has amounted to 188, each house includes three rooms built of dry brick while the floors and walls were painted with mud or plaster,” said archaeologist Yarub al-Abdullah.  

In southwest China, archaeologists found a couple that had been buried 4,200 years ago, posed in an embrace.   

National Geographic Daily News  has more information on the discovery of “X-woman,” a new branch of the human family tree, in a cave in Siberia. It turns out that the finger bone tested was probably from a child.  

Ireland’s medieval carved stone crosses have been damaged by centuries of weather and pilgrims. Should they be moved to a central museum?  

Twenty students from Germany’s University of Regensburg will live and train like Roman gladiators and engage in a battle later this summer.  

Oregon’s State Historic Preservation Office has issued a warning to stay away from the wreckage of a World War II aircraft discovered by loggers.

Loggers in Oregon discovered the wreckage of a World War II-era, U.S. Navy aircraft last week. Investigators do not know yet if human remains are at the site. One such plane was reported missing in 1945 with two crew members.

A technique developed to generate 3-D imagery for computer games is helping archaeologists to get a better look at artifacts. Known as polynomial texture mapping, the process captures digital images of an object while it is lit from different angles.

Sir Charles Nicholson, a founder of the University of Sydney and a notable Australian, has been shown to have been born Isaac Ascough, the illegitimate son of an English farm laborer’s daughter. Historian Michael Turner of the Nicholson Museum found the proof. “We know for certain that Isaac Ascough became Charles Nicholson, and went out of his way to distance himself from his past, as many people did at that time. Australia was the ideal place to come,” he explained.

National Park Service archaeologists are digging in Hot Springs National Park, located in Arkansas. “There’s a lot of archaeology back here, both historic and prehistoric,” according to archaeologist Bill Hunt.

National Park Service archaeologists are also digging at the Andrew Johnson Homestead, in Greeneville, Tennessee, in order to pinpoint the locations of structures that once stood on the property. Andrew Johnson became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was impeached in 1868.

A 20-year-old and a 13-year-old were reportedly shooting paintballs that damaged petroglyphs in Grapevine Canyon, located in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The paint will be cleaned up, but it will probably leave an oil stain on the rock.