In western Alaska, archaeologists have excavated tools, grass baskets and rope, cuttings of human hair, and fur artifacts from the floors of homes that had been preserved in permafrost. The homes were part of a village that was occupied between 1350 and 1650 A.D. by the ancestors of the Yup’ik Eskimos. Scientists from Scotland’s University of Aberdeen will analyze the hair to learn about the diets of these people, and possibly, how they adapted to climate change. “If we can better understand how these people sustained themselves during what we know was a significant time of climatic change–we could learn important lessons about how these coastal communities have coped with climate change in the past,” said archaeologist Kate Britton.

Archaeologists working in the Canadian Arctic have discovered human remains that may represent members of the 1845 Franklin Expedition. “They did find a human tooth, and some bone, and a toothbrush,” said Marc-Andre Bernier of Parks Canada. His crew is continuing the search for Franklin’s ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, which were lost. Bad weather has hampered this year’s expedition.

A square room that opened up to a paved area is being called a Roman pub by archaeologists. The pub, or wine bar, was located in a settlement outside Stracathro, a Roman fort in Scotland. The fort was the last in a line of forts along the Roman frontier, built 50 years before the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. “We hadn’t expected to find a pub. It shows the Romans and the local population got on better than we thought,” said Birgitta Hoffmann, director of The Roman Gask Project.

While renovating his home in Guatemala, Lucas Asicona Ramírez uncovered Maya paintings on the plaster walls. The images depict people wearing traditional Maya and Spanish clothing. National Geographic Daily News has posted photographs of the rare murals and of the daily lives of the people who live in the village where they were found.

The people who erected Stonehenge may have made their living as herders, according to a new study of food remains from sites across England conducted by archaeobotanists Chris Stevens of Wessex Archaeology and Dorian Fuller of University College London. Cool, dry conditions in England 5,300 years ago may have made raising cattle, sheep, and pigs more successful than planting the Mediterranean crops that had been introduced during a milder, wetter period. “Part of the reason why pastoralists built monuments such as Stonehenge lies in the importance of periodic large gatherings for dispersed, mobile groups,” said Fuller. Stevens and Fuller think that cultivating plants then returned to prominence during the Bronze Age.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, September 10, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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