Tombs of the “golden chiefs culture” have been discovered at the El Caño site in Panama. The 1,000-year-old burials contain the remains of high-ranking individuals surrounded by carefully arranged bodies, ceramics, and jewelry made of gold and semiprecious stones. The bones of a poisonous pufferfish were also found in a jar.

A study of teeth taken from a cemetery of mass graves in Rio de Janeiro shows that enslaved Africans imported to Brazil originated from a much wider geographical area than previous thought. The cemetery was in use from 1760 to 1830.

In Pompeii, a pillar in the garden at the house of Loreius Tiburtinus has collapsed. Archaeologists are assessing the damage.

A section of wall from Vietnam’s Thang Long Imperial Citadel was excavated at a construction site in Ha Noi. It will soon be covered with a road.

Science writer Brian Switek examines the claim that a lack of elephant meat drove human evolution at Israel’s Qesem Cave.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, December 22, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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