Scientists from Australian National University have studied 3,000-year-old burials of young children at An Son, in southern Vietnam. “The burial of a new born baby without any associated grave goods and positioned within discarded kitchen material may suggest high levels of infant mortality, as well as a reduced emotional investment in very young children that may not live long anyway,” said archaeologist Peter Bellwood. Older children were buried with high-quality goods. 

Lothar von Falkenhausen first traveled to China to study its archaeology 30 years ago. He talks about his discoveries and his career in this article for UCLA’s web site. “We have seen history happen. China – no matter where you are in China – is completely different now from what it was like in 1979. You don’t even have to be an archaeologist to realize that,” he said.   

In central northern Bulgaria, researchers are analyzing samples of bone from a grave dating to between 6300 and 6150 B.C. The bones belonged to a child between the ages of 12 and 13.  

Kevin Jones, Utah’s state archaeologist, and physical anthropologist Derinna Kopp, are not convinced that a burial site in southeastern Utah contained the bones of “artist and romantic vagabond” Everett Ruess, who disappeared in 1934. They recommend additional, independent studies.  

Descendants of 1812 war hero General Zebulon Pike want to exhume his supposed grave in Sackets Harbor, New York, for DNA testing of the bones. They also want to boost tourism to the town and make a documentary film of the experience. But the town’s mayor, Eric Constance, says “The mood [of the townsfolk] is just let the general rest in peace.”  

In honor of the Fourth of July, the Wall Street Journal has published an essay on Thomas Jefferson’s “particular delight.”  

Excavations in the Great Hall at England’s Taunton Castle have revealed a privy that may have been used by “Hanging” Judge Jeffreys, who sentenced 144 people to be hanged, drawn, and quartered following an attempt to overthrow Roman Catholic James II in 1685.  

Archaeologists will return to Belgenny Farm, called the birthplace of Australia’s agriculture. 

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, July 2, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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