At the Aztec site of Templo Mayor in Mexico City, archaeologists have discovered a large, round ceremonial platform decorated with carvings of snake heads. Spanish historical documents say that Aztec rulers were cremated on such a structure. “Archaeologists are inching closer and closer to finding an Aztec royal tomb,” commented Michael Smith of Arizona State University.

The graves of three women have been unearthed within a ringed ditch in Kent, England. An unusual, three-part pot was found with one set of remains. “This comes after many years in which archaeologists believed there were no henges in south-east England at all,” noted archaeologist Mike Pitts.

In a smuggling bust, Greek police recovered more than 70 artifacts, including four helmets and gold funerary masks, a diadem, and an iron sword decorated with gold leaf.

Payson Sheets of the University of Colorado has been excavating the Maya village of Ceren in El Salvador for the past 30 years. The village was encapsulated in volcanic ash 1,400 years ago, but no human remains have ever been found. This past summer, his team uncovered a wide road that may have made for an easy getaway. “It’s possible almost everybody escaped and survived,” he explained.

A bacteriologist at New York University unearthed a 100-year-old time capsule at Bellevue Hospital Medical College that contained a vial of Clostridium perfringens. Dr. Martin Blaser wants to know if antibiotics have changed the structure of the once dangerous bacteria.

Developing the tourism industry has become a priority in Turkey. Some are concerned that the push to excavate archaeological sites could turn them into “Disney-style attractions.”

An ancient coat was found in a melting glacier in Norway’s Breheimen National Park this past summer. “It is well-used, and has a few tears that have been patched together,” said Marianne Vedeler of the Museum of Cultural History.

Archaeological sites in New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument have reopened. Fire and flooding closed the sites to visitors after being closed for three months.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, October 7, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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