Corpse-eating insect remains have been found in Moche graves in northern Peru, suggesting that the dead were exposed for at least a week before burial. Such insects are also depicted in Moche art. “The Moche deliberately exposed the body to the flies with the hope that the anima or spirit of the deceased would be carried from the maggots into adult flies and through close contact with people, complete the human cycle,” wrote J.B. Hucheta of the Université Bordeaux and Bernard Greenberg of the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Journal of Archeological Science.

Bulgaria’s Unit for Combating Organized Crime raided the homes of three men accused of treasure hunting near the village of Koshava. Coins, bronze vessels, metal detectors, and a pistol were seized.  

The ancient health center in western Turkey known as Alliaoni is due to be covered with sand before it is submerged by the reservoir of the Yortanli Dam. “We have found a sculpture of Asklepios, who was known as the god of health. Alliaoni has 400 surgical instruments, the highest number ever found, proving that the place was a hospital at the time,” defended excavator Ahmet Yaras.  Here’s more information on the controversy over the submersion of the ancient site.  

The Cardy Camp, an 11,000-year-old camp site in Wisconsin, will be donated to the Archaeological Conservancy by the Cardy Family. “As we were picking up the stones, occasionally we’d find an arrowhead at home, and we never thought a great deal about it,” said Darrel Cardy.  

Archaeologists and volunteers in southern Oregon are searching for any traces left of the Applegate Trail. Modern roads may have erased the nineteenth-century pioneer route.  

The Maryland Historic Trust and the Navy continue to work together to excavate a shipwreck that may be the USS Scorpion, which fought the British Navy in the Patuxent River during the War of 1812. Plans are afoot to construct a visitor’s center complete with artifacts from the ship by 2012.  

Canadian and British officials are discussing how to preserve the wreck of HMS Investigator, a nineteenth-century British ship located in Mercy Bay this summer. The ship was abandoned in 1854 during a search for the lost members of the Franklin Expedition.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, September 2, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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