The grave of a man in his 50s that was found beneath a Maya home in Guatemala is being called the oldest known burial of a Maya ruler. A black incense burner found with the skeleton depicts the Maya jester god headdress, a symbol of Maya royalty. “We have older Maya burials, but don’t have ones with grave goods that include a royal symbol,” said John Tomasic of the University of Kansas.

The ruins of 2,000-year-old buildings that collapsed in an earthquake were uncovered in Nepal. 

A new study of 52 mummies has collected more information about ancient Egyptians and atherosclerosis. “These data point to a missing link in our understanding of heart disease, and we may not be so different from our ancestors,” said Gregory Thomas of the University of California, Irvine. 

Sediment cores show that rising tides may have propelled maritime culture in southeastern China 5,000 years ago, and eventual voyages to Taiwan. “People of the Fuzhou Basin lived on little islands in an estuary that favored maritime activities and seafaring. Rice farming was not part of the equation,” said Barry Rolett of the University of Hawaii. It had been thought that rice cultivation to the north triggered population growth that spread to the south and to Taiwan.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, April 4, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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