Genetic link shown between Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia

The continuing debate regarding the origins of people inhabiting ancient Mesopotamia during the region’s long history led the authors of a new report published in the Open Access journal PLoS ONE to attempt an isolation and analysis of mtDNA sequences from the area. [...] The obtained data has enriched the modest database of Mesopotamian ancient DNA and suggests a possible genetic link of the region with the Indian subcontinent in the past.

"The studied individuals carried mtDNA haplotypes corresponding to the M4b1, M49 and/or M61 haplogroups, which are believed to have arisen in the area of the Indian subcontinent during the Upper Palaeolithic and are absent in people living today in Syria. However, these same haplogroups are present in people inhabiting today’s Tibet, Himalayas, India and Pakistan. The suggestion is that these analysed remains from Mesopotamia belonged to people with a genetic affinity to the Indian subcontinent as the distribution of identified ancient haplotypes indicates a solid link with populations from the region of South Asia-Tibet (Trans-Himalaya).

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Mesoamerican Artifacts Rarely Seen

Rarely Seen Mesoamerican Artifacts Revealed

Few people know that the Smithsonian Institution curates one of the largest single collections of whole Mesoamerican ceramic artifacts in the world — more than 12,000, to be specific. But most of these objects are tucked away unseen by most people within the storage “vaults” that house all of the other massive museum collections, the largest in the world.  [...] The objects represent a rich variety of Central American cultures spanning the period from 1000 B.C. to the present.
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Surely these objects should be released on the market to be preserved, cared for and displayed by collectors, instead of mouldering away in some museum basement
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Biblical-Era Town Discovered Along Sea of Galilee

 

Biblical-Era Town Discovered Along Sea of Galilee

A town dating back more than 2,000 years has been discovered on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel’s Ginosar valley. The ancient town may be Dalmanutha (also spelled Dalmanoutha), described in the Gospel of Mark as the place Jesus sailed to after miraculously feeding 4,000 people by multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread, said Ken Dark, of the University of Reading in the U.K., whose team discovered the town during a field survey.   Read more.

Beginning of the End of Ancient Culture of Cahokia

Epic Fire Marked ‘Beginning of the End’ for Ancient Culture of Cahokia, New Digs Suggest

Excavations in the Midwest have turned up evidence of a massive ancient fire that likely marked “the beginning of the end” for what was once ancient America’s largest city, archeologists say.  The digs took place in southern Illinois, just meters away from the interstate highways that carve their way through and around modern-day St. Louis. But 900 years ago, this was the heart of Greater Cahokia, a civilization whose trade routes and religious influence stretched from the Great Lakes to the Deep South, and whose culture shaped the lifeways of the Plains and Southern Indians.  Here, researchers with the Illinois State Archeological Survey have discovered a widespread layer of charcoal and burned artifacts among the foundations of ancient structures — Read more.

Ethnic Differences across pre-Columbian Mexico

A new analysis of the skulls of prehistoric peoples in Mexico reveals significant regional variation in the facial characteristics of indigenous populations – indicating that there were notable physical differences between geographically separate groups before the arrival of Europeans. "There has long been a school of thought that there was little physical variation prior to European contact," says Ann Ross, a forensic anthropologist at NC State who co-authored a paper on the work. "But we’ve found that there were clear differences between indigenous peoples before Europeans or Africans arrived in what is now Mexico." Read more.

Viking Ring found in Ireland

Those Vikings got everywhere:

A man who found a dirty piece of metal in a field has discovered he is actually the lucky owner of a silver Viking ring. David Taylor, from County Down, Northern Ireland, discovered a bracelet-shaped object while helping lift stones from a field. His wife thought it was a bull ring and told him to throw it out. A coroner’s court has now found the ring to be treasure trove. Almost 18 months ago, Mr Taylor noticed the strangely-shaped object lying on a stone in his brother-in-law’s freshly ploughed field near Kircubbin on the Ards peninsula.
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New tunnels found under Hadrian’s Tivoli villa

The History Blog

New tunnels found under Hadrian’s Tivoli villa

Amateur archeologists and speleologists from Roma Sotterranea, an organization dedicated to the exploration and documentation of Rome’s many subterranean layers, have discovered previously unknown tunnels underneath Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. Archeologists have long known that there was an elaborate tunnel network under the palace complex, but the passageways which once bustled with the activities of slaves, merchants and ox carts had been filled with soil for years. This is the first time cavers were deployed in an attempt to explore these spaces. The spelunking experts rappelled into the tunnels through light shafts. They had to clear bucket after bucket of dirt out of passageways, many of which were so narrow they barely had the space for a grown human to squeeze through. After clearing some of the access tunnels, the team found a new passageway leading from a remote area of the villa known as the Academy to a major underground tunnel 2.5 miles long called the Grande Trapezio. The newly discovered tunnel is seven feet wide and a half mile long. It runs north-east and then turns south, ending in a roundabout about 766 yards long which may have been used to turn around ox carts. More here....

The Globalization of Food & Plants

The Globalization of Food & Plants 

Most of the foods that we commonly eat today are the product of globalization. And often a globalization that began centuries before the term came into use. Next time you eat one of the foods highlighted in the following articles imagine what life would be like if that food had never left its home country.

Ancient Golden Treasure Found Near Jerusalem Temple Mount

Ancient Golden Treasure Found Near Jerusalem Temple Mount

An ancient cache of 36 gold coins, gold and silver jewelry and a gold medallion etched with Jewish symbols have been uncovered in excavations at the foot of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
The find, which is estimated to be about 1,400 years old, is a “once-in-a lifetime discovery,” according to Eilat Mazar, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem archeologist who directed the excavation. Etched into the medallion is a menorah, the 7-branched candelabrum used in the ancient Temple, a ram’s horn, and a Torah scroll.  The position of the items as they were discovered indicates that one bundle was carefully hidden underground, while the second bundle appeared to be abandoned in haste and scattered across the floor, according to an e-mailed statement from Hebrew University. Read more.

Treasure Hunters Hit it Big with Sunken Spanish Gold

 

A family of life-long treasure hunters has just made their largest discovery, long lost Spanish gold. Rick Schmitt and his family have been active treasure hunters for decades, with their largest bounty valued at $25,000 found back in 2002. This time they found three pounds of gold chains, five gold coins and a gold ring estimated to be worth $300,000.  The bounty was found 15 feet under water near the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida while they were aboard their “AARRR Booty” boat. It is believed the gold treasure is some 300 years old and came from one of the 11 Spanish galleon ships that went down during hurricane season back in July, 1715. Read more.  Treasure Hunting Family Hits it Big with Sunken Spanish Gold, Lost 300 Yrs Ago

UK treasure hunters make archeologists see red

With a metal detector and some luck, hobbyist treasure hunters in the UK can end up owning highly valuable artifacts. But archeologists are speaking out against treasure hunting, saying it damages key historical traces. Hobbyists scavenging for ancient jewelry or a cache of Roman coins are an increasingly common sight in the UK’s countryside. With some enthusiasts having unearthed thousands of pounds worth of treasure, the lure of heading out with a metal detector can be potent. Historical artifacts, including coins, old tools and weaponry, turn up with some regularity among the thousands of objects dug up each year. But hobbyists have been so successful that some archeologists are accusing them of looting Britain’s heritage. Some even want the practice banned. Read more.

They should be grateful to these people for finding them new sites to work on at tax-payers' expense.