A total of five, small, eighteenth-century telescopes crafted from cow bone have been found in Amsterdam over the past 40 years, and now they have been examined by Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen of the University of Amsterdam. The luxury eyepieces may have been used as opera glasses, or to get a better look at things on land or sea.

NPR offers an article on Jason De Leon’s research into the thousands of objects left behind in the southern Arizona desert by people who try to cross into the United States from Mexico. Many items get left behind in backpacks when migrants decide they have to drop their luggage in order to blend into a small town. “A lot of times people don’t know what to expect so they don’t know how to pack for it or they want to bring their favorite things,” said the University of Michigan archaeologist. Sometimes, De Leon and the clean-up teams even find human remains.

A construction project is planned in Connecticut at the site of the Battle of Ridgefield, fought in 1777 during the Revolutionary War. “The project area lies to the north of the barricade set up by local Yankees under the direction of Benedict Arnold and saw considerable military action in preventing the British from returning to the ships along Long Island Sound,” explained state archaeologist Nick Bellantoni. The possible graves of 24 soldiers and the remains of Arnold’s horse may be found, although the ground has been disturbed in the past 100 years.

In Germany, archaeologists are excavating a mass grave from the Battle of Lützen, which took place in 1632 during the Thirty Years’ War. There may be 75 sets of human remains in the grave.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, March 26, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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