ScienceAlert


The  virus responsible for  COVID-19 is now widespread in wildlife. A new study in the US identified exposure rates of up to 60 percent in some species.
"I think the big take-home message is the virus is pretty ubiquitous," says Virginia Tech conservation biologist Amanda Goldberg. "We found positives in a large suite of common backyard animals."



					
			

Testing almost 800 nasal and oral swabs from animals in rehabilitation centers or that were trapped and released in the wild, the researchers identified six different species with  antibodies indicating they'd been infected with  SARS-CoV-2 at some point.
Most of the infected...

Virus Behind COVID-19 Now Rampant in Wild Animals, Study Finds

Archaeologists have unearthed the burial of a woman, believed to have been a shaman, at Çemka Höyük, a Neolithic settlement in southeastern Turkey. The burial, dating back approximately 12,000 years to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period, offers a rare glimpse into the symbolic relationships between humans and animals during a transformative era in human history.

Archaeologists unearth 12,000-year-old shamanic burial in Turkey

Research reveals that Denisovans, an ancient human species, occupied Tibet’s Baishiya Karst Cave for over 160,000 years, adapting to harsh climates and utilizing diverse animal resources. Newly discovered fossils and innovative analysis of bone fragments highlight their survival strategies during ice ages and interglacial periods. According to a new...

Ancient Mystery Deepens With Discovery of Denisovan Remains in Tibetan Cave


Evidence continues to mount against the interpretation of a cave filled with ancient hominid bones as a sacred burial ground, one used long before modern humans were burying their own dead.



					
			

The Rising Star Cave system in South Africa contains the remains of an unusually high number of individuals of the hominid species Homo naledi that lived around 300,000 years ago, and their peculiar deposition has continued to puzzle scientists.
Then, last year, a bombshell dropped. A team led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand published a preprint making the jaw-dropping claim that the burials were deliberate, a...

Did This Ancient Species Really Bury Its Dead Before Modern Humans?


Every now and again, our planet ponies up a fossil so spectacular that almost all you can do is gape in wonder.
Sometimes those fossils are the magnificent remains that once trod Earth's surface with thunderous feet. Sometimes, they are mere motes, particles at which you may not look twice – but contain within them the secrets of multitudes.



					
			

Such is the fossil of a sesame-seed-sized baby worm discovered encased in rock in China. Hailing from the Cambrian period some 520 million years ago, the larva represents a whole new genus and species of euarthropod called Youti yuanshi.
Such a small speck of...

520-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Larva Found With Preserved Brain And Guts

What do you think of when you think about ancient Egyptian mummies? Perhaps your mind takes you back to a school trip to the museum, when you came face to face with a mummified person inside a glass case. Or maybe you think of mummies as depicted by Hollywood, the emerging zombie-like from their sandy tombs with dirtied bandages billowing in the breeze.

The fascinating finds inside the belly of a 3,000-year-old mummified Egyptian crocodile

NBC News

Remains found in a tomb in northwestern Spain are likely to belong to a ninth-century bishop believed to have helped create the Camino de Santiago, one of Christianity’s most popular pilgrimages, a new study has found. A combination of bone analysis, carbon dating, stable isotope analysis and DNA testing...

Bones discovered in Spanish cave most likely belong to famed priest who created popular pilgrimage

Archaeologists have analyzed the DNA of a unique child burial at the precontact Mexican site of Paquimé, suggesting it is a rare example of close relative mating between elites for ritual sacrifice. Paquimé was the political and ritual center of the pre-Columbian Mogollon culture during the 13th and 14th...

DNA analysis reveals close relative mating and child sacrifice among elites in precontact Mexico


The face of an ancient Egyptian mummy set in a gaping rictus may be the result of a death so painful, her face may have become locked in a scream.
Her name is unknown; but so striking is her grim facial expression that she is referred to as the Screaming Woman mummy. In spite of the feelings this face engenders, researchers had previously attributed it to the relatively benign cause of a shoddily performed mummification. New research, however, suggests that this wasn't the case.



					
			

Radiologist Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and anthropologist Samia El-Merghani of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities...

Grim Mystery of Ancient Egypt's 'Screaming' Mummy May Finally Be Solved

The Independent

 Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered a strange well-preserved skeleton in the 2,200-year-old “Tomb of Cerberus”, likely belonging to an influential person who lived in the ancient city of Liternum.The “Tomb of Cerberus” was uncovered last year in the northwest Naples city of Giugliano near an ancient Roman necropolis.After initially probing the contents of the tomb using a micro camera, new excavations have revealed the skeleton of a person in an “excellent state of preservation” covered in a shroud.The skeleton was discovered along with grave goods such as ointment jars and a Roman tool used to scrape off dirt from...

Archaeologists perplexed by strange skeleton uncovered in Italy’s 2,200-year-old ‘Tomb of Cerberus’

Interesting Engineering

Archaeologists uncovered a rare hoard of Persian gold coins in the ancient city of Notion in Turkey that most likely belonged to a wealthy mercenary soldier.

Pot filled with gold coins buried by soldier 2400-year-ago discovered

The recent opening of the 2,000-year-old “Tomb of Cerberus” in Naples, Italy, has unveiled fascinating insights into the lives and burial practices of an ancient Roman family. Discovered in 2023 near Giugliano, this well-preserved tomb is adorned with elaborate frescoes depicting Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog, and ichthyocentaurs, suggesting the high status of those interred. The tomb’s lavish design, featuring three altars and funeral beds, indicates that it was meant for a wealthy family, who were buried with goods intended to accompany them in the afterlife. Among the most significant findings was a coffin that had remained sealed for two millennia, containing a skeleton wrapped in a mineralized shroud, surrounded by glass jars filled with perfume and toiletry ointments.

2,000-Year-Old ‘Tomb of Cerberus’ Coffin Is Cracked Open in Italy

The bodies of a man and a woman have been unearthed in Pompeii, along with a cache of coins and precious jewelry, archaeologists say.

Pompeii archaeologists find bodies of man and woman – and their treasure

An extremely rare discovery has just been made in the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Tel el-Deir in Damietta. There, excavations have revealed dozens of burials that have been untouched for millennia; mudbrick chambers that still contained the precious treasures with which the dead had been interred more than 2,500 years ago.

Gold Treasure Trove Found in Untouched Graves of Ancient Egyptian Necropolis

New Hampshire State

In late July, a young fisherman by the name of Joseph Kramer was hauling up his lobster traps off the coast of New Hampshire when he found himself looking at a crustacean positively too beautiful to eat.



					
			

The lobster's shell was a swirling mass of blue, purple, and pink pigments, which looked like glazed, opalescent pottery when wet.

Kramer had once reeled in a bright blue lobster, but he had never before seen one with such a multitude of colors.
The lucky lobster avoided the dinner plate and was taken straight to the Seacoast Science Center, where it is now on display.
There, the...

Gorgeous 'Cotton Candy' Lobster Just Found Is So Rare It's 1-in-100 Million

South Carolina State

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Colleton County, SC

Explore Beaufort SC

Some beachgoers were in for a surprise this week when a bizarre looking prehistoric fish washed ashore in Colleton County along Edisto Beach at Edisto Beach State Park. It turned out to be an atlantic sturgeon.

Rare Atlantic sturgeon washes ashore on South Carolina beach

 Archaeologists have uncovered dozens of tombs in an ancient Egyptian necropolis containing burials at least 2,500 years old, along with rare untouched gold treasures.Unlike most ancient Egyptian treasures from millennia ago that have been looted by grave robbers, the latest site was found to contain a hoard of untouched bronze coins, gold foil and ancient figurines representing deities such as Isis, Bastet, and Horus.Undamaged artefacts like pottery vessels, funerary amulets, and scarabs found along with the treasures throw fresh light on the customs and rituals followed by ancient Egyptians of this era, says Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary general of...

Egyptian archaeologists uncover dozens of rare untouched burials with 2,500-year-old gold treasures

Colorado State

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David Heitz

A bill quietly introduced this spring in the Colorado legislature to decriminalize the possession of drug paraphernalia obtained by harm reductionists has become law. As low-key as the legislation was introduced, the bill was signed into law without fanfare June 6. It garnered little to no media attention.

Colorado legalizes needles, pipes for meth and crack if obtained by harm reduction group

Archaeological discoveries often bring the past to life in vivid and unexpected ways. While conducting an excavation in Jerusalem, archaeologists uncovered a monumental structure that not only enriches our understanding of ancient architecture, but also ties closely to biblical narratives. This significant find sheds light on the topographical and historical aspects of one of the oldest cities in history: the City of David.

Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Moat Referenced in the Bible

A recent archaeological excavation in Mongolia’s Dornod Province has uncovered a remarkable elite tomb dating from the post-Khitan and pre-Mongol periods. The discovery, made by the Joint Mongolian-Israeli-American Archaeological Project, sheds light on the social structure, trade networks, and funerary practices of the 12th and 13th centuries, a time between the collapse of the Khitan-Liao Empire and the rise of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan.

Pre-Mongolian elite woman’s grave with silk cloak found in abandoned fortress

NewsBreak

Mysterious Woman Buried With Wild Animals Was a Shaman, Study Says

Archaeologists think they have hit upon the ancient burial site of a female 'shaman' in southeast Türkiye.
In life, as in death, scientists suspect the early Neolithic...

Mysterious Woman Buried With Wild Animals Was a Shaman, Study Says

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