Belgian archaeologists have unearthed the complete remains of a soldier on the Waterloo battlefield. The young man is thought to have been killed on June 18, 1815. His skeleton, a musket ball in his ribs, a spoon, a coin, a leather strap, and a piece of wood carved with the initials C.B. were covered by just 15 inches of soil on land held by English troops. The archaeologists will try to identify the remains.

German military divers have recovered the wreckage of a Junkers JU87 from the Baltic Sea. This plane, a type of dive bomber popularly known as the Stuka, was discovered by fishermen in the 1990s under 60 feet of water. The recovered aircraft will be restored. “You are still talking about less than a dozen in the world, even if you include every back end and center section found on the Russian steppes,” said Andrew Simpson of the Royal Air Force Museum in London. Once researchers have found the plane’s serial number they will be able to look up its records.

A Greek cemetery dating to the fourth or fifth century B.C. has been discovered in southern France, near the ancient port of Marseille. Six sarcophagi and urns have been uncovered. “These findings in this specific area are totally unexpected. It could dispute everything we know about the Marseille habitants of Greek origin,” said Lionel Guévalet of the Provence de la société Bouygues Immobilier.

The James Holliday House in Annapolis, Maryland, is named for a freed slave whose family has owned the house since 1850. Holliday was employed by the Naval Academy and he maintained a middle-class lifestyle. University of Maryland archaeologists are now investigating the life of his granddaughter, who married a Filipino immigrant in 1919. “Both Filipinos and African Americans were legally prohibited from marrying whites then, and their economic horizons were limited. They lived near each other, socialized and intermarried, though community relations frayed at times,” explained project director Mark Leone.

The construction of Olympic Park in east London prompted the excavation of a 1.6-square mile site by archaeologists. Artifacts ranging from the Neolithic period to the early twentieth century have been found. Discovery News offers a selection of photographs of the objects.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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