Tim White of the University of California, Berkeley, and his team unveiled what they say is the oldest-known member of the human family tree — a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton dubbed “Ardi,” short for Ardipithecus ramidus. “It’s not a chimp. It’s not a human. It shows us what we used to be. It bridges a gap,” he said. This article offers images of Ardi’s skull.   National Geographic News explains how Ardi fits into human evolutionary theory. The bones show that Ardipithecus could walk on two legs without lurching from side-to-side like a chimp, but she could also climb trees. “What Ardi tells us is there was this vast intermediate stage in our evolution that nobody knew about. It changes everything,” said Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University.   A full-body sketch of Ardi is shown at Bloomberg, along with the story of her discovery.

An amphitheater that seated 2,000 people has been found within a third-century imperial palace outside of Ostia, on the coast west of Rome. “It’s a very enigmatic building, it’s not meant to be seen from miles around, it’s very discreet. We are not entirely sure what went on in the amphitheater,” said Simon Keay, leader of the British excavation team.   This article mentions the discovery of toilet facilities at the amphitheater.   More photographs of the excavation are available at BBC News.  

An international team claims to have found the world’s oldest brain, in a cave in Armenia. The brain fragment and its red and white blood cells were found clinging to a 5,000-year-old skull, which had been placed within a buried ceramic vessel.  

A Colorado artifact dealer charged with illegally trafficking in American Indian objects during the federal crackdown in Utah has pleaded not guilty in federal court.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, October 1, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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