Analysis of a Neanderthal arm bone unearthed in Russia suggests that Neanderthals had a strong, sturdy bone structure and large muscles fueled by genes, climate, and a diet of proteins and lipids. “Neanderthals were characterized not only by peculiar biomechanical adaptations, but also by a specific hormonal condition which has no close parallels among modern human hormonal conditions either normal or pathological,” said project leader Maria Mednikova.

Workers restoring a wall in Jerusalem’s Old City discovered a live Ottoman-era grenade. Police bomb disposal experts removed it and destroyed it.  

A 1,600-year-old synagogue furnished with plaster floors and benches was unearthed at Horvat Kur, west of Israel’s Lake of Galilee. The village was inhabited from the Early Roman through the Early Medieval periods.   

Two rock-hewn painted tombs have been uncovered in the Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara.  

Learn more about the new field of ice patch archaeology. “We really have to base our understanding about ancient times on these inorganic materials. But ice patches are giving us this window into organic technology that we just don’t get in other environments,” said Craig Lee of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Lee recently found a 10,000-year-old atlatl dart in a melting patch of ice near Yellowstone National Park.  

A team from Massachusetts will look in Chelsea Creek for the HMS Diana, the first British warship sunk by the Americans during the Revolutionary War.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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