An intact 2,500-year-old tomb containing bronze weapons, musical instruments, and jade jewelry has been discovered in eastern China. Inscriptions on bronze pots will help archaeologists identify the occupant of the tomb, especially since they have not been able to find any human remains. “We need to do more research to determine whether the owner of the tomb was a man or a woman. It could be a warlord or his concubine. The person was a dignitary, that much is certain,” said Hao Daohua of Shandong Archaeology Research Institute.

Lars Wedelin of the Swedish Museum of Natural History examined the jaws, teeth, snouts, and other anatomy of carnivores in order to determine what they ate and how they fit into the environment over millions of years. He found that the scavenging habits of human ancestors may have driven animal scavengers extinct 1.5 million years ago. “Even I was surprised by the dramatic drop,” he said.

Archaeologist Gary Ellis has been searching for Fort Micanopy, which was built in 1835 in Florida during the Seminole Wars. Current residents of Micanopy, the oldest inland town in Florida, have been assisting with project and providing clues and artifacts found on their properties, including human remains, ammunition, pottery, cutlery, and military buttons. “One or two people just intuitively knew where the fort was because it couldn’t be anywhere else,” he hinted.

The Colorado River Indian Tribes say that a human tooth and burned bone fragments uncovered by erosion in the Mojave Desert are evidence of an ancient cremation site. This is the third archaeological find that has turned up after the fast-track archaeological survey that was conducted for the Genesis solar project. “But out there, fast-track processes that do not involve a lot of thorough research before building something are setting the state for future conflicts and potential disasters,” commented Jon Erlandson of the University of Oregon Museum of Cultural and Natural History.

The Egyptian government reports the discovery of a relief depicting Ramesses III offering sacrifices to the god Amon Ra at the Temple of Karnak. His wife, Amont, is also shown on the slab. Ramesses III is thought to have ruled Egypt from 1186 to 1155 B.C.

Giuseppina Capriotti of Italy’s National Research Council has identified a large sculpture at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as the twins born to Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. It is also engraved with stars, and was probably part of a ceiling. Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios were born in 40 B.C., and were then moved to Rome after the suicide of their parents.

Artist Jeremy Deller has created a bouncy-castle version of Stonehenge titled Sacrilege, which is now on display at the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. “We had 112 kids bouncing on it this morning. It’s a very entry level way into thinking about ancient history for five-year-olds,” he explained. The sculpture will tour England and land at the Olympic games this summer.

DNA analysis of the bones and teeth of 27 individuals has been used to determine that those who had been buried together in chullpas, or funereal monuments in southern Peru, were related. The scientists from the University of Warsaw and the Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria say that their research also supports the idea that the ancient Peruvians lived in ayllu, family groups in which men retained land. Chullpaswere probably used for several generations.

An ancient, frescoed wall at Pompeii has reportedly collapsed in an area of the archaeological park that is closed to the public. “Without a continuous state program for the conservation and restoration of our archaeological sites, extraordinary and sporadic intervention with European or private funds risks being ineffective,” said Italian politician Giulia Rodano.

Bulgarian archaeologist Dimitar Nedev has uncovered fragments of a Greek vase in the city of Sozopol on the coast of the Black Sea. A preliminary analysis of the vase’s erotic decorations suggests that it was painted in Apollonia. The vase dates to the sixth or seventh century B.C.

A team of students is searching for the wreck of the Loch Sloy  and the graves of 11 of the 30 people who died after the ship ran into rocks in 1899 off Kangaroo Island, near the coast of South Australia. They think they have found the ship during their search of the area with a magnetometer, but the graves remain elusive. “The Loch Sloy is one of four historic shipwrecks on the west coast of Kangaroo Island and between those four ships 82 people lost their lives, making the stretch of coast one of the most treacherous in South Australia. Yet the Loch Sloywas particularly important because public opinion after the incident resulted in the construction of another lighthouse,” said Lynda Bignell of Flinders University.

Officials from English Heritage are standing by as 37 volunteers sift through the dirt piles left behind by moles at the Roman fort site of Epiacum in Northumberland, England. The molehills have yielded a bead from a jet necklace, pottery, nails, and a dolphin-shaped piece of bronze that may have been used in a plumbing system. “The Samian ware is the sort of thing the Romans used to keep up with the Joneses and we found a quarter-inch flat, round piece of it,” added Elaine Edgar, who lives on the property.