Evidence of 77,000-year-old sleeping mats  made from plants has been found in South Africa’s Sibudu Cave. “It is unlikely that this site was occupied for more than a few weeks at a single stretch. The rock shelter would have been abandoned when food supplies became low, or when the site became unpleasant to live in because it smelled bad, had lots of decaying organic material, or was overrun with pests such as insects or rodents,” said Lyn Wadley of the University of the Witwatersrand.

A bronze bell excavated in the 1930s in Northern Ireland is now being hailed as the world’s oldest church bell.

Additional fragments of the Paleolithic sculpture known as “Lion Man” have been unearthed in southwestern Germany’s Stadel Cave. Scientists hope to be able to answer some of the many questions raised by the Ice Age figurine. “We will figure out the gender,” said one of the excavators.

Two Korean students at the University of New Mexico are accused of inscribing their names on El Morro National Monument, which is known for its historic signatures and 1,000-year-old rock art. “Both state they struggle with reading English and misunderstood the signs, believing they (the signs) stated it was legal to carve into the cliff,” reads the complaint against them.

A golden monkey head, looted from a Moche tomb in 1987, has been returned to Peru.

Yesterday was the 70^th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To mark the occasion, NPR’s Here & Now host Robin Young interviewed ARCHAEOLOGY deputy editor Samir S. Patel about the magazine’s special article on the archaeology of World War II.

A mummified cat has been found bricked into the wall of a cottage in Lancashire, England. The cottage is located near Pendle Hill, and archaeologists speculate that it could be related to seventeenth-century witch trials. “We are just a few months away from the 400^thanniversary of the 1612 witch trials which ended with 10 hangings, and here we have an incredibly rare find, right in the heart of witching country,” said historian Simon Entwistle.

A stone fishing weir complex has been found in Ireland’s Galway Bay.

Artist Zenzele Chulu draws attention to Zambia’s ancient rock art by using some of the symbols in his paintings. “The danger is that they are so vulnerable to vandalism and other kinds of elements that are destroying the heritage. So I took it upon myself, as an individual, to bring awareness through my work,” he said.

A  “royal lavatory”  has been discovered in the wreckage of the Udine, a German light cruiser sunk during World War I by the British. “Kaiser Wilhelm was on board the ship when it was launched in Kiel on December 11, 1902,” explained archaeologist Reinhard Oser.