Tooth wear suggests that Australopithecus afarensis, a.k.a “Lucy,” may have eaten grass and leaves, despite thickened enamel and flatten teeth, which indicate a diet of nuts, seeds, and tubers. “There are huge differences in size of skull and shape of teeth between the species in eastern Africa, but not in their microwear. This opens a whole new set of questions,” said Peter Ungar of the University of Arkansas.

A temple dedicated to Mithras, and clay lamps and glass kohl jars from the Roman and Byzantine periods, have been uncovered at the site of Horta, in Syria.   

The red-colored burial chamber of a Yamato dynasty nobleman was found in a burial mound near Nara, Japan. The chamber dates to the late third or early fourth century.  

In his review of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens for The Guardian, Simon Jenkins calls the museum “the most costly poison-pen letter in the history of cultural exchange.”   

Scorched bones bearing cut marks and charcoal have reportedly been found at the Chinese site of Zhoukoudian, where the fossils known as Peking Man were discovered. Archaeologist Gao Xing also claimed that Peking Man lived 770,000 years ago, 200,000 years earlier than previously thought. 

Archaeology students at Western Kentucky University did some Dumpster diving in order to experience stratigraphy first hand. They also found out what percentage of the waste could have been recycled.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, October 23, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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