A “door to the afterlife” from the tomb of an advisor to Queen Hatshepsut was unearthed in Luxor, Egypt. The slab of red granite had been reused during the Roman period.

In South Saqqara, scientists are using the alignments of pyramids to look for the tomb of Userkare, the little-known second pharaoh of the sixth dynasty. “We are talking of meridian and diagonal alignments, with pyramids raised at their intersections. The only missing piece in this sort of grid is the pyramid of Userkare,” explained Giulio Magli of Milan’s Polytechnic University.  

In Greece, the graves of 21 individuals have been uncovered at Ayia Sotira, an agricultural community near the ancient city of Mycenae. The burials are notable because they are missing the wealthy burials full of gold and silver artifacts that are usually associated with Mycenae.   

A Neolithic village has been unearthed at Tal Bokrous, in northeastern Syria. “The number of the unearthed houses has amounted to 188, each house includes three rooms built of dry brick while the floors and walls were painted with mud or plaster,” said archaeologist Yarub al-Abdullah.  

In southwest China, archaeologists found a couple that had been buried 4,200 years ago, posed in an embrace.   

National Geographic Daily News  has more information on the discovery of “X-woman,” a new branch of the human family tree, in a cave in Siberia. It turns out that the finger bone tested was probably from a child.  

Ireland’s medieval carved stone crosses have been damaged by centuries of weather and pilgrims. Should they be moved to a central museum?  

Twenty students from Germany’s University of Regensburg will live and train like Roman gladiators and engage in a battle later this summer.  

Oregon’s State Historic Preservation Office has issued a warning to stay away from the wreckage of a World War II aircraft discovered by loggers.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, March 29, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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