Woolly mammoth populations declined as warming temperatures shrank their habitats at the end of the last Ice Age, and then human hunters finished them off, according to a new study led by Spanish researcher David Nogués-Bravo of the Museo Nacional Ciencias Naturales.

Excavators in Oxford, England, have uncovered a mass grave containing seven sets of human remains. “We’ve got legs and arms and torsos at the moment but we haven’t got any full skeletons,” quipped contract archaeologist Sean Wallis.  

A tiny silver Christian cross was unearthed in Nova Scotia at Grand-Pré, near the supposed site of St-Charles-des-Mines, an Acadian parish church. The Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia in 1755.  

FBI agents have determined that a parachute discovered in southwestern Washington did not belong to D.B. Cooper, who hijacked a plane in 1971, jumped from it, and disappeared.  

Rock art in northern China has been damaged by erosion, human activity, and a lack of protection. “Cracks, falling pieces, and collapses have made the previously clear pictures difficult to identify and some have even completely disappeared,” said archaeologist Zhou Xinghua.  

The lighting of the Olympic flame in Athens has sparked this essay on the pursuit of athletics by the wealthy in ancient Greece.  

Here’s another article on the repatriation of cultural artifacts around the world.

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

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