This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Science Daily
May 11, 2010
It's in the teeth. An odd mosaic of dental features recently unearthed in northern Egypt reveals a previously undocumented, highly-specialized primate called Nosmips aenigmaticus that lived in Africa nearly 37 million years ago.
Because it is only known from its teeth, the paleontologists who discovered it don't know what its body looked like, but the find likely represents an ancient African lineage whose discovery makes early primate evolution on that continent more complicated.
Source: Science Daily
May 12, 2010
Human remains are stored in universities and museums all over the world. A recent example of genetic testing on old human remains is the results from Tutankhamon and his family. On May 29, Malin Masterton will defend her doctoral thesis on the moral status of past people and protection for historical persons. The thesis also discusses our duties towards the dead.
We only need tiny amounts of DNA to test for disease or confirm identity, even from people who have been dead for a very
Source: Science Daily
May 12, 2010
More than 150 years ago, Darwin proposed the theory of universal common ancestry (UCA), linking all forms of life by a shared genetic heritage from single-celled microorganisms to humans. Until now, the theory that makes ladybugs, oak trees, champagne yeast and humans distant relatives has remained beyond the scope of a formal test. Now, a Brandeis biochemist reports in Nature the results of the first large scale, quantitative test of the famous theory that underpins modern evolutionary biology.
Source: Science Daily
May 14, 2010
Paleontologists have discovered a rich array of exceptionally preserved fossils of marine animals that lived between 480 million and 472 million years ago, during the early part of a period known as the Ordovician. The specimens are the oldest yet discovered soft-bodied fossils from the Ordovician, a period marked by intense biodiversification.
The findings, which appear in the May 13 issue of the journal Nature, greatly expand our understanding of the sea creatures and ecosystems
Source: Science Daily
May 13, 2010
The very latest laser technology combined with old fashioned pedal power is being used to provide a unique insight into the layout of Nottingham's sandstone caves -- where the city's renowned medieval ale was brewed and, where legend has it, the country's most famous outlaw Robin Hood was imprisoned.
The Nottingham Caves Survey, being carried out by archaeologists from Trent & Peak Archaeology at The University of Nottingham, has already produced extraordinary, three dimensional
Source: AP
May 14, 2010
China has sentenced to death four robbers who used explosives and heavy machinery to plunder tombs almost 2,500 years old.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency says the four sentenced Friday were part of a 27-member gang who robbed a dozen tombs near the capital of the central province of Hunan in 2008 and 2009.
The report says some of the more than 200 stolen artifacts were under China's highest level of protection. One of the tombs dates from the Warring States period tha
Source: Latin America Herald Tribune
May 14, 2010
The U.S. government returned to El Salvador 18 Maya polychrome ceramic pieces and statuettes that were smuggled out of the Central American country.
The pieces include containers with geometric and animal decorations in black, pink and red, as well as small figurines made of dark or white ceramic.
The items were stolen from a Salvadoran archaeological site and sold on the Internet by a Salvadoran couple now under arrest in their homeland, authorities said.
Source: Australia's Business and World News
December 31, 2069
Francisco Etxeberria's work causes blisters and earns him animosity as well as admiration. He and his team of forensic experts, anthropologists, archaeologists and others have unearthed 200 mass graves, exhuming the remains of 4,800 people in Spain since 2000.
With the passage of the ”law on historical memory” in 2000 and a lawsuit filed by a son who had lost his father, Etxeberria began to excavate in Priaranza del Bierzo in the northern province of León. The bodies of 13 civilians
Source: The Guardian
May 14, 2010
France marks 400 years since the death of a monarch who enforced religious tolerance and raised standard of living.
Two hundred years before the storming of the Bastille and the stirrings of a revolution that would take down the monarchy, a handsome 35-year-old from the south-western city of Pau began a reign that would make France fall in love with him. Today, as the country remembers his death at the hands of a fanatical Catholic assassin, there is no sign that this love is fading
Source: BBC
May 13, 2010
A memorial is to be unveiled to a Scottish fighter pilot who shot down the first enemy bomber to be destroyed in British airspace in WWII.
Patrick Gifford, from Castle Douglas, was killed in action in Belgium on 16 May 1940.
A plaque will be unveiled in his memory in his home town on Sunday to mark the 70th anniversary of his death.
A new biography of Mr Gifford is also being launched this week in recognition of his unique role in the conflict.
Source: BBC
May 14, 2010
Work has started on a £5.5m project to transform a Grade II-listed castle at a Dorset nature reserve.
Durlston Castle, near Swanage, is being renovated and turned into a visitor centre for the Jurassic coast world heritage site.
It will form the centrepiece of the 280-acre Durlston Country Park and will house a shop and catering facilities.
A turf cutting ceremony took place earlier. The work is expected to be fully completed by July 2011.
Source: BBC
May 14, 2010
A photograph has emerged of a BNP councillor pictured with three men giving a Nazi salute standing next to a war memorial.
Steve Batkin is a councillor at Stoke-on-Trent City Council and is also a governor at two secondary schools.
The image, taken in 2002 in Stone, shows Mr Batkin and saluting far-right activists with a Union Jack flag.
Mr Batkin said the men were expressing their "rebelliousness" but admitted the image was "regrettable&qu
Source: BBC
May 14, 2010
The grandchildren of one of the last queens of India have pledged to fight attempts by her stepson to dispute the terms of her will.
Gayatri Devi, once described as one of the most beautiful women in the world, died in July 2009 at the age of 90.
But on Thursday her stepson challenged her will in court, arguing that she had been "misguided" by her grandchildren in the latter stages of her life.
She was the third wife of the Maharajah of Jaipur.
Source: Packet Times (Canada)
May 12, 2010
Retracing the historical fur-trading route of their ancestors, two Rama First Nation men will embark on the most "meaningful" canoe trip of their lives.
Keesic Douglas, 36, and Kory Snache, 26, will be leaving from the Atherley Narrows on May 28 to follow the watery path of their ancestors, which hasn't been travelled as a fur trade route since the late 1800s.
"It's the most meaningful trip that I've ever done because there's so much history in it and our
Source: Ancaster News (Canada)
May 13, 2010
Hamilton historian Robin McKee has had a few ‘eureka’ moments in his historical career. But he didn’t expect one to occur literally in his backyard.
Two years after purchasing a property at 91 John Street, his lawyer found a deed for the land that proves the city’s founder, George Hamilton, bought the property from James Durand on Jan. 25, 1815.
It’s significant, said McKee, because it’s the first time a document has the 1815 date and ties the Hamilton’s to buying land.
Source: Virginia Gazette
May 14, 2010
In the bowels of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., are boxes containing the skeletal remains of more than 130 Native Americans who died in Virginia centuries ago.
They were members of the Patawomeck and Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) tribes; their remains date to 1580. The bones were excavated by the Smithsonian Institution during an archeological dig in Southampton County in the 1960s.
Both tribes want the museum to return the remains so their ancesto
Source: Sublette Examiner (WY)
May 10, 2010
Around 4,000 years ago, a group of late archaic Indians camped near the shores of Fremont Lake. They used granite slabs and finely crafted obsidian tools to process wild plants and game.
On Wednesday, May 5, at about 1 p.m. a construction crew digging a water pipeline for the town of Pinedale uncovered a dark stain in the sub-soil.
Just west of the Fremont lake lower boat dock parking lot on Forest Service land, the discovery was immediately recognized by a team from C
Source: Balkan travellers
May 13, 2010
The landfill with coins recently discovered at the Skopje Fortress is the biggest repository of Byzantine gold and silver coins ever discovered on the territory of Macedonia, archaeologists told national media today.
In the chest, archaeologists found 44 gold coins and 76 Venetian coins, dating to the thirteenth century, or the Byzantine Era.
This is the most significant archaeological find at the Skopje Fortress, along with the Medieval lead stamps that were discover
Source: BBC News
May 13, 2010
Young women who left their homes to work the land and feed the nation during World War II are among those being honoured in a new set of stamps.
Royal Mail is paying tribute to the Women's Land Army, dubbed the Land Girls, with a special 1st class stamp.
It is part of a set of eight, entitled Britain Alone, which marks the sacrifices made on the Home Front.
Former land girl, Mona McLeod, 87, launched the new stamps at the National Museum of Rural Life in La
Source: Telegraph (UK)
May 14, 2010
A twisted beacon taller than the Houses of Parliament could be created to remember the sacrifices made during the Battle of Britain.
The 116 metre (380ft) tall landmark building is planned for The Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, north west London, and would be almost 10 metres (33ft) taller than the famous clock tower at the Palace of Westminster.
The building, provisionally called the Battle of Britain Beacon, would be visible from the centre of London and will house
