This isn’t part of an ancient weapon or a stake dug out of a vampire burial. This is actually a sequestrum of a femur removed from a private who served during the Civil War. A sequestrum is a piece of… Read More ›
Archaeology
Why do the bones of a wealthy medieval family show signs of malnutrition?
The Medicis were one of the richest, most powerful families of the Renaissance. This family produced four popes, and were patrons to Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Ironically this wealth may have contributed to malnutrition in their children. Malnutrition can… Read More ›
Why does the Atacama skeleton look like an alien but is actually human?
This bizarre little 6-inch skeleton was found in a pouch in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 2003. Almost immediately the skeleton, nicknamed ‘Ata’ for the desert in which it was found, sparked the imaginations of people around the world and… Read More ›
4000 Year-Old Irish bog body is the oldest, probably suffered a violent death
According to the BBC, “Cashel Man” is the mummified remains of a man who died a brutal death. The remains were discovered by a peat-cutter in the Cashel bog in Ireland’s County Laois in 2011. New research from the National… Read More ›
Archaeologists renew search for Suleiman the Magnificent’s remains
A group of Turkish and Hungarian historians have renewed their efforts to uncover Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s heart and internal organs. The sultan died in 1566, after a famous siege of the fortress at Szigetvar, Hungary. It’s believed that his… Read More ›
[UPDATE] Search for Suleiman’s Heart Leads To Discovery of Ottoman Era Town
Hungarian archaeologists say they have found the remains of an Ottoman-era town in southern Hungary where the heart of Suleiman the Magnificent is believed to have been buried. The town, called Turbek, was founded by the Ottomans after the death of… Read More ›
Human sacrifice at a viking funeral – The tale of the headless Norse slaves
Yesterday USA Today reported on a Journal of Archaeological Science article in which Oslo scientists analyzed the skeletal remains of 10 individuals unearthed in Norway in the 1980’s. The skeletal remains in these graves were dated to the Viking Age… Read More ›
Peru’s Necropolis: Chauchilla Cemetery
Discovered in the 1920’s, Chauchilla Cemetery is a necropolis consisting of mud-brick tombs and mummified remains belonging to the Nazca people, with interments that date between 200 and 900AD. After a member of the Nazca culture died, their body was mummified,… Read More ›
Are the bones of a German queen key to ID’ing Alfred the Great’s remains?
In March of this year, archaeologists exhumed an unmarked grave in St Bartholomew’s Church in England. They exhumed 5 skulls and other bones, which some people believe belong to King Alfred the Great and his family. After interest in King… Read More ›
Human remains found during an excavation at a parking lot in Londonderry, Ireland
Archaeologists unearthed three sets of old human remains on Friday, inside the historic walls of Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. There is an excavation underway at a parking lot in there, near St Augustine’s cemetery. The bones were found in a layer… Read More ›
You must be logged in to post a comment.