Francesco Menotti of Basel University has some new thoughts on the remains of a huge structure that were found in Monmouth, Wales. It had been thought that the three trenches containing complete trees could have been the foundation of a large prehistoric house that had been set on top of a Bronze Age mound of stones. Rather, Menotti suggests that the beams were part of a large platform from the late Iron Age or the early Roman period. “What the platform (or surface) was used for, and what (if anything at all) was constructed on top of it, is pure speculation, considering the scant amount of archaeological evidence at the moment,” he added.

A genetic study of modern Britons suggests that the Welsh are a relatively distinct group dating back to the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. Within Wales, people from the north are more genetically similar to the Irish, and those from the south have genes that resemble those of people from France. “We don’t really have the historical evidence about what those genetic inputs were,” explained Peter Donnelly of Oxford University. The mountains of Wales may have kept the populations isolated.

Two anchors have been recovered from a German ship in Ireland’s Cork Harbor. Dubbed the Aud, the ship had been running guns to the Irish during the 1916 rebellion when it was captured by the British and scuttled. “It’s a wonderful day and a historic occasion for everyone involved. There was quite a flotilla that accompanied us out to sea, made up of people from Cork, Kerry and Waterford who have followed this project,” said marine archaeologist Laurence Dunne.

The Nez Perce had been ordered onto reservations by the U.S. government in 1877, but many resisted and clashed with the Army periodically while heading toward Canada. Archaeologists from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are working with volunteers to look for the route taken by the Nez Perce when they escaped the U.S. Army’s 7^thCavalry that September. “We want to figure out how the Nez Perce got off that mountain and crossed into Montana. We want to figure out where the route is so we can preserve and protect it for future generations,” said Jim Evans of the Nez Perce Trail Foundation.

A 25-year-old Idaho man will receive prison time for using spray paint to deface rock art created by the ancestors of the Nez Perce at the Red Elk Rock Shelter. Restoration work will cost $100,000, but conservators will not be able to return the images to their original, pristine condition. Two additional men were sentenced for this crime earlier this year.

A 7,500-year-old pearl  has been unearthed from a grave at a Neolithic site in the Emirate of Umm al Quwain by French researchers. The intact pearl has been called the oldest ever found, but other drilled pearls have been recovered from Neolithic burials. “The discovery of archaeological pearls demonstrates an ancient fishing tradition that no longer exists today,” wrote Vincent Charpentier and Sophie Méry in Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. Oyster shells were also used to make large fish hooks.

Norwegian and Syrian scientists investigated how the ancient city of Palmyra could have grown to support 100,000 people in what is now a desert. They examined satellite photographs of the regions to the north of Palmyra, and discovered Roman-era farming villages and their water reservoirs. Two thousand years ago, the region was an arid steppe, and the residents collected rainwater with dams and cisterns. Grasses held water in the ground, and herders’ flocks provided meat and fertilizer. “Tradesmen from Palmyra made the most of the city’s unique location to build up a comprehensive trade network,” added Jørgen Christian Meyer of the University of Bergen.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Police  recovered more than 110 objects from three people who were apprehended in Giza. Now, 70 of those objects have been authenticated as antiquities, including amulets, scarabs, rings, bronze spoons, coins, and glass bottles. None of the artifacts were registered with the government, so all of them were looted from archaeological sites.

The continuing economic crisis in Greece translates into reduced security at archaeological sites and more people digging illegally and hoping to find treasures to sell. The northwestern Macedonia region has been especially hard hit. “Illegal digs have always been carried out around the mountains in this area. But the practice has recently turned into a sport,” commented archaeologist Sofia Doukata.

Two men have been charged with tampering with archaeological resources in Colorado’s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, where they had been leading an organized hike for a group of senior citizens. An undercover Bureau of Land Management officer joined the group for a hike after law enforcement officials received a tip that the hike leader had dug up pots on past hikes. The hike leader told the group he thought that law enforcement might be waiting at the site to catch him. The two men are now negotiating plea bargains.