Silver excavated from Mexican mines by the Spanish  has been detected in English coins dating to the 1550s. Silver from Bolivia was also being mined by Europeans at this time, but it didn’t show up in their coins until later. Geologists Anne-Marie Desaulty and Francis Albarède of the Ecole Normale Supérieure speculate that Mexican silver was easier to ship east to Europe. Bolivian silver would have had to travel across Brazil before traveling to Europe, so it was probably sent west, to China.

An analysis of bones from a collection of Norse skeletons at the University of Copenhagen shows that the Viking settlers in Greenland ate plenty of sea food, and gradually came to rely upon seals as a major source of nutrition. It had been thought that the Norse attempted to farm in Greenland for 500 years until the cold climate made it impossible and the colony failed. “Nothing suggests that the Norse disappeared as a result of a natural disaster. If anything they might have become bored with eating seals  out on the edge of the world. The skeletal evidence shows signs that they slowly left Greenland,” said Niels Lynnerup, a member of the university’s department of forensic medicine.

A new analysis of the remains of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe  shows that his famous silver nose prosthesis was actually made of brass. Archaeologist Jens Vellev of Aarhus University found traces of copper and zinc in a bone sample taken from the astronomer’s nose. The investigative team has also ruled out mercury poisoning as the cause of Brahe’s death. Scientists who examined his bones in 1901 claimed to have found mercury in his remains, suggesting that he’d been murdered. The mercury levels are low, however. That brings researchers back to the traditional story surrounding Brahe’s death in 1601: that he died from a ruptured bladder after failing to excuse himself during a royal banquet.

In the 1950s, the naturally mummified remains of a dog  were found in a burial cave in arid northern Mexico. The mummy and thousands of other artifacts from the cave have now been placed in the care of scientists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History. They estimate that the animal died 1,000 years ago, but further tests will be conducted in order to determine its age and breed. Dog skeletons have been found in other parts of Mexico, but this is the first mummy.

On the banks of Scotland’s River Forth, archaeologists have unearthed a 10,000-year-old dwelling  that they are calling the oldest in the country. Post holes surrounding the large oval pit held upright wooden posts, which would have been covered to create walls. Some scientists think that animal skins may have been used to fashion a wigwam-style home, while others think a flatter turf roof is more likely. Inside the structure, archaeologists found traces of several fireplace hearths, in addition to charred hazelnut shells and more than 1,000 flint objects. “The discovery of this previously unknown and rare type of site has provided us with a unique opportunity to further develop our understanding of how early prehistoric people lived along the Forth,” said Ed Bailey, manager of the excavation project.

Another Mesolithic site, dating to 8,000 years ago, has been found in northwest England. This one boasts three structures, stone tools, evidence of camp fires, and more hazelnut shells. “The homes look like a family would comfortably fit in them and they were hollowed out in the sand as if they are using the place as natural shelter. There would have been wooden stakes that would have held the roof up but this kind of material doesn’t really survive,” said Ron Cowell of the Museum of Liverpool. Environmental evidence suggests that these dwellings were positioned on the edge of a swamp or lake.

Archaeologist Ken Tankersley and his students at the University of Cincinnati were surveying a floodplain of Ohio’s Little Miami River ahead of proposed highway construction when they found the Fort Ancient village  linked to the Madisonville site cemetery, which was discovered in the nineteenth century, and a serpent mound earthwork located on a ridge overlooking the village. “I’ve been trying to find this since 1972,” he said.

At least four petroglyphs have been stolen from public lands in area known as the Volcanic Tableland in California’s Eastern Sierra region. Additional images were damaged and defaced. “The individuals who did this were not surgeons, they were smashing and grabbing,” said Greg Haverstock, U.S. Bureau of Land Management archaeologist. The 3,500-year-old petroglyphs are sacred to the Paiute-Shoshone tribe and are still used in ceremonies. The BLM is offering a $1,000 reward for information in the case.

Last week, federal prosecutors filed papers in United States District Court in Manhattan claiming that Sotheby’s auction house colluded with the owner of a tenth-century Cambodian statue  to hide information from American customs officials. The government says it can prove that the statue was taken from the temple of Prasat Chen, where its feet remain, in 1972. Sotheby’s says that the statue left Cambodia before 1970, when United Nations agreements protecting cultural heritage went into effect. “There is no clear and unambiguous law that would have given purchasers fair notice that the modern state of Cambodia claims ownership of everything a long-defunct regime made and then abandoned 50 generations ago,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.