Marina Davila Ross of the University of Portsmouth and Elke Zimmermann of the University of Veterinary Medicine studied orangutans and discovered that “the building blocks of positive emotional contagion and empathy that refer to rapid involuntary facial mimicry in humans evolved prior to humankind.” Or, in other words, “laughter is contagious” and very old.

In China, a child reportedly found a bronze vase from the late Shang Dynasty, ca. 1100 B.C. The vessel is decorated with engraved animals and dragons, and probably held beverages.

The 51,000 Buddhist statues within China’s Yungang Grottoes face the usual threats from water, pollution, and tourists. “The sandstone has become very crisp, and it will slake off upon a light touch or stroke,” said Wen Xiaolong of the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute.

This report claims that the thieves who stole two 1,500-year-old statues from an airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, thought they might be filled with jewels.

Travel to Serbia and visit Kosovo’s historic sites with writer William J. Kole.
It seems that some news outlets rehashed old archaeology stories over the holidays. Here’s another report on the 4,000-year-old remains of a man killed by barbed spear points in Australia.

And this story is a summary of what sorts of high-tech images archaeologists are using to spot new sites and learn more about known ones in a general-interest science magazine.

The Miami Circle is also in the news again, but nothing much has changed. The chiseled holes dug by the Tequesta at the mouth of Florida’s Miami River were sandbagged in 2003 to protect them.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, January 2, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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