Here’s more information on the rough draft of the Neanderthal genome made by Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. He wants to know if earlier human genes were passed on to Neanderthals, and if the Neanderthal genome, when compared with what is known about modern human and chimpanzee DNA, could help pinpoint what makes modern humans unique. “What they’ve shown is it’s possible to get that much data from this old, crummy sample,” adds geneticist Tom Gilbert, of the University of Copenhagen.   Listen to snippets from Paabo’s press conference at National Public Radio. 

A small figurine of Egypt’s King Tut has reportedly been unearthed in northern Iraq by a Kurdish archaeological expedition, at a site known to locals as “Pharaoh’s Castle.” The region was once part of the ancient kingdom of Mittani.  

“This time I mean it very seriously,” Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s department of antiquities, reportedly said on a German radio station. Hawass has asked for the return of the bust of Nefertiti in the past, but a newly revealed 1924 document, which suggests that German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt was not up front with Egyptian authorities about his discovery, has renewed Hawass’ quest.  

Remnants of a Maori village were found near during the construction of an office building in New Zealand. “I expect there was a much larger site here before the building went in,” said archaeologist Ivan Bruce. “A large part of the jigsaw puzzle has been chucked away.”  

The bacterial disease known as “the Black Death” can be identified in ancient human remains with a quick “dipstick test” to the bones and teeth. The test was recently used to confirm that French nuns and priests died of the plague that also killed the people they served in the early seventeenth century.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, February 13, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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