Human remains have been unearthed in central England, at the site of a monastery thought to be the burial place of Richard III. The skeleton is in good condition, although the skull shows signs of trauma. In addition, the spine is abnormal. It shows signs of severe scoliosis, which would have made the person’s right shoulder higher than his left one. “Our focus is shifting from archaeological excavation to laboratory analysis. This skeleton certainly has characteristics that warrant extensive further detailed examination,” said Richard Taylor, a spokesperson for the University of Leicester. DNA from the bones will be compared to DNA obtained from a direct descendant of Richard III’s sister. The archaeologists talk about discovering the skeleton in this article at BBC News.

Reports from Syria indicate that looted artifacts are being sold to raise money to continue the fighting and are even traded for weapons. Some of the artifacts are taken from archaeological sites, but poorly guarded regional museums have also been plundered. “The Iraq war awakened a hunger for Middle East artifacts. Now private collectors follow conflict closely. With the collapse of the economy the easiest thing is to tell people to go dig,” said Lebanese archaeologist and journalist Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly. All six of the World Heritage Sties in Syria have been damaged by the fighting.

A medieval shipwreck has been found in Hungary, partially buried in mud and gravel in the Danube River. Archaeologists think its cargo may be intact. “River navigation was dangerous. Downstream cargo ships floated using large rudder-oars, which made maneuvering very hard. Accidents happened very often,” explained Attila J. Tóth of the National Office of Cultural Heritage.

Andrew Leaper, a Scottish fisherman, recovered a message in a bottle in his nets last spring. The bottle had been tossed into the ocean 97 years and 309 days earlier by Captain CH Brown of the Glasgow School of Navigation. It contained a postcard which asked the finder to record the date and location and return it to the school. The information was used to map patterns of water circulation. “With many bottles still unreturned there is always a chance in the coming years that a Scottish drift bottle will once again break the record,” said Richard Lochhead, the Scottish environment secretary.

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

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