A new CT scan of Ötzi the Iceman shows that he suffered from cavities, worn teeth, and periodontal diseases. “We already know that he was eating grains, such as einkorn or emmer. The contained carbohydrates clearly increased the risk of developing dental diseases,” said Albert Zink of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano.

An increase in drilling for oil and natural gas has put New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon region on the National Trust for Historic Preservation annual list of endangered historic places. “The development of those resources cannot come at the cost of destroying such a rich and diverse heritage,” said National Trust advisor Theresa Pasquale.

Libya’s Leptis Magna is “one of the best preserved ruins sites in the world. It’s staggering,” said archaeologist Susan Kane of Oberlin College. Are Gaddafi’s troops using the World Heritage Site as a military staging ground?

A nineteenth-century copper mining and refining operation in Michigan is being excavated by a team of professors and students from Michigan Technological University.

Students from the University of Hawaii spent two weeks surveying World War II-era wreck sites off Maui’s southern coast. “The maps they’re doing are a record of the site, a snapshot,” explained maritime archaeologist Hans VanTilburg of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

And students from Drury University in Missouri uncovered Civil War ammunition on their campus.

Archaeological sites along the Niagara River indicate that people were camping and crafting stone tools there as early as 4,000 years ago.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

Comments posted here do not represent the views or policies of the Archaeological Institute of America.