The bones of four US soldiers who died in 1846 during the Mexican-American War have been gathered in northern Mexico. “There are proposals … to return those individuals found so far to the United States, and for them to return those that they have from battles that took place in their country,” read a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

An audit shows that 50,000 items are missing from 1,600 museums in Russia. “Yes, there have been thefts. Museum staff [members] have used their contacts to steal some of the artifacts without a trace. But most has simply been lost during transportation,” said Ilya Ryasnoi of the Interior Ministry. The auditors have 400 more museums to investigate.

This video from National Geographic News shows scientists unwrapping the unusual Chancay mummy bundle recently discovered in Peru. The man had been buried with balls of raw cotton, an empty bag and a loop of yarn, corncobs and corn kernels, and metal covers over his eyes, in addition to a piece of metal in his mouth. “We know he’s elite-he had access to metals, he was buried in an important place. But beyond that, I’m not sure,” said anthropologist Kit Nelson of Tulane University. Be sure to watch the video and read the article for all of the information.  

See the world’s earliest oil paintings, located on the carved walls and ceilings in the caves at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in this video from BBC News. The accompanying article echoes the video and has photographs of the paintings.   

Excavations continue at Crown Point, home to first a French fort and then a British one at Lake Champlain. “The two forts there really played a major role in shaping North America. All the great figures in American history came to see Crown Point,” said historian Russell Bellico.

Excavations in St. Anthony’s Garden, a fenced area behind St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans, uncovered the foundations of a hut that may have been built in the early 1700s. A silver crucifix, pottery, clay pipes, and children’s toys were also found.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged the immediate withdrawal of Thai troops from the Preah Vihear temple. There are now some 400 Thai and 800 Cambodian soldiers at the 900-year-old temple, named a UNESCO World Heritage site two weeks ago.

At an international conference on the Bayeux tapestry at the British Museum, archaeologist Michael Lewis has named nineteenth-century artist Charles Stothard as the one who snipped a piece of fabric from the famous depiction of the Battle of Hastings. His wife, Anna Eliza, has long been accused of the crime.

Two German men living in the same village learned they shared a common ancestor who lived 3,000 years ago. An anthropologist from the University of Goettingen calls the DNA investigation the longest proven family tree.

A team of volunteers found some 40 Civil War-era artifacts, including lead shot, a minie ball, and a canister shot, at the Harding House site, near the Stones River Battlefield in Tennessee.

Here’s a photograph of the cannon brought up from the USS Torrent, which sank in Coal Bay, Alaska, in 1868, while transporting federal troops. All of the troops made it to shore safely. More of the recovered artifacts are shown in this second article on the Torrent.

A Colorado man who had kept human remains in his home for 20 years has turned them over to the police. A forensic anthropologist says that the bones belonged to an American Indian.