Erik Thorsby, an immunologist from the University of Oslo, found genetic markers in blood samples taken from Easter Islanders that he thinks could indicate contact with South Americans before the arrival of Europeans in the New World.

A seal bearing an image of an ibex has been discovered in the Indus Valley by archaeologists from Punjab University. The seal was carved from steatite sometime between 2,500 and 2,000 B.C.

Forty-four artifacts that had been boxed up and misplaced during World War II have been found in eastern Germany. The objects have been returned to the Bode Museum in Berlin.

Thick stone walls have been uncovered on the Hill of Jonah in Ashdod, Israel. Pottery at the site is estimated to be almost 3,000 years old.

A Navy research boat staffed with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is investigating a shipwreck site off the coast of Rhode Island. The team will survey what could be the remains of Oliver Hazard Perry’s ship, the Revenge, with an autonomous underwater vehicle.

A retired postal worker in Orlando has built himself an Egyptian-style coffin in his workshop.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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