Simon Underdown of Oxford Brookes University has proposed a mad-cow-like disease, or TSE, spread by cannibalism may have contributed to the demise of the Neanderthals. Evidence of Neanderthal cannibalism 100,000 years ago was discovered at the cave site of Moula-Guercy in France in 1999. “TSEs could have thinned the population, reducing numbers and contributing to their extinction in combination with other factors (such as climate change and the emergence of modern humans),” he said.  

Forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson has used Johann Sebastian Bach’s bones and computer modeling to rebuild the composer’s face for the Bachhaus museum in Eisenach, Germany. Bach died in 1750, and his bones were excavated in 1894.  

The Rensselaer County Historical Society was evacuated yesterday while police investigated a Civil War-era cartridge box.  

An engraved seal dating to the eighth century B.C. was uncovered in Jerusalem’s City of David. The seal bears the name of a public official in Hebrew.  

The search for Nazi gold and the Amber Room in the German village of Deutschneudorf has stopped, according to this report from Russia. One of the men on the treasure hunting team has reportedly said that “scientists should become involved in the excavation to make it more credible.”

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, February 29, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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