Unfired musket balls, bayonets, and cavalry ornaments unearthed in rows suggest that archaeologists have found the spot where hundreds of Mexican soldiers surrendered to the Texas Army after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. The victory sealed Texas’ independence from Mexico.

Skeletal structure and mitochondrial DNA indicate that there may have been four subgroups among the Neanderthals, according to new research by scientists from the University of Marseille, France.  

The remains of more than 40 individuals were reburied at one of the earliest settlements in New Zealand. Their thirteenth-century village was excavated more than 70 years ago. “It was utterly required in terms of human dignity. The koiwi [bones] and taonga were removed very early on for what was then the standard [practice in] archaeological discovery,” said Antony Wright, director of Canterbury Museum.  

Two sets of human skeletal remains have been unearthed in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, at a construction site. A cemetery at that location appears on an 1849 map.  

A bone flute found in a Neolithic grave in Inner Mongolia has been restored and played by modern musicians.   

Here’s more information on the rock art discovered at Machu Picchu. Art historian Reinaldo Morales Jr. thinks the painting is of an animal figure and that it predates the founding of the city, ca. 1450 A.D.  

You can read what Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, has to say about the recent developments at Taposiris Magna on his website. There are also pictures of the temple, the mummies found there, and links at the bottom of the page to more information on the artifacts.  

Otto Schaden of the University of Memphis, Tennessee, who is excavating KV-63 in the Valley of the Kings, has also updated his website.  

The wreck of the U.S.S. Patasco, sitting on the bottom of Charleston Harbor, will be explored by a team from the University of South Carolina. No artifacts will be raised.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, April 17, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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