Wildfires in Arizona threaten archaeological sites.

Six men have been arrested in northern Greece for using dynamite while looking for gold at protected archaeological sites.

Prehistoric rice farmers selected for shorter rice plants with greater yields, according to a genetic study conducted by Makoto Matsuoka of Nagoya University.

Reid Ferring of the University of North Texas and David Lordkipanidze of the Georgia National Museum have found stone tools at the site of Dmanisi. Their team claims the tools suggest that Homo erectus occupied the site as long as 1.85 million years ago. “The recently discovered data show that Dmanisi was occupied at the same time as, if not before, the first appearance of Homo erectus in east Africa,” they reported.

Ten sets of human skeletal remains were unearthed in Mexico near the Texas border. Archaeologists think the bones represent U.S. soldiers who were killed in the Battle of Monterrey, during the Mexican-American War.

On the Channel Island of Guernsey, a settlement from the Neolithic period could soon be sealed by an airport runway, so archaeologists are taking a last look at it. “The overall impression given is that this was a fairly poor community without access to metal work or many prestigious items,” said archaeology officer Phillip de Jersey.

And in Scotland, a man walking on the beach spotted a Palaeolithic ax head.

Edward Jenner is remembered as the doctor who developed vaccinations, but archaeologists digging in the garden at his country home have uncovered Anglo Saxon and Roman remains. “It just goes to show that you never quite know what lies under your feet. It is unlikely that Dr. Jenner was aware of these unexpected neighbors lurking at the bottom of his garden,” said Mark Horton of the University of Bristol.

Excavation continues at Berenike, an Egyptian port city on the Red Sea. “We’ve probably covered about two percent of the surface, so there are still several lifetimes’ worth of work to be done. We’ll never be finished with it,” said Steven Sidebotham of the University of Delaware.

A mission church built of coquina has been rediscovered in St. Augustine. The church is thought to have been commissioned by the governor of Florida in 1677.

Flakes of quartz were found in sediment cores taken from a shallow area of Rice Lake in Ontario, Canada. The ancient shoreline was probably a site used for the manufacture of points, scrapers, and other tools for fishing and hunting.

Twenty-one volumes of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary have been completed after 90 years of work. “You always saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but the end of the tunnel kept getting further and further away,” said Robert Biggs, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago.  You can also read about the dictionary at The New York Times.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Thursday, June 9, 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.