Newsdesk Archive
Leicester archaeologists have revealed the bones of Richard III came within inches of destruction.A team from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) have discovered during a second, follow-up dig, a massive disturbance at the Grey Friars site where the bones of the medieval monarch were found last year.
The dark secrets of the legend of Beowulf, England
Why did humans invent music?Until the hot tub time machine becomes a reality, the answer to that question will remain as mysterious as the true identity of the '60s garage band ? and the Mysterians.
The passenger pigeon, the dodo and the woolly mammoth are just a few of the species wiped off the Earth by changing environments and human activities.Now, advances in biotechnology could enable scientists to bring extinct animals back from the grave. But critics argue the practice would only hinder conservation efforts, by resurrecting creatures that could not survive in the wild.
A chance find in a quarry led to the discovery that Leedsichthys problematicus grew up to 50ft long
India has banned hunting sharks for only their fins in a move to protect endangered species from indiscriminate hunting for parts wanted abroad.The practice of shark 'finning', or slicing off a shark's fins and throwing it back to die slowly on the ocean floor from starvation or inability to move, has exploded worldwide due to demand from China, where shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
Mercury spilled into the air from polluting industrial centres travels thousands of miles before raining into the oceans to poison fish, according to scientists.The findings suggest that levels of the toxic metal in edible fish is likely to rise in the coming decades.
Sea ice decline and warming trends are changing the vegetation in nearby arctic coastal areas, according to two University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists.Uma Bhatt, an associate professor with UAF's Geophysical Institute, and Skip Walker, a professor at UAF's Institute of Arctic Biology, contributed to a recent review of research on the response of plants, marine life and animals to declining sea ice in the Arctic.
A 400-year-old banyan tree in Hong Kong will be cut down, authorities said Friday, after being hit by a fungal disease brought on when a park development starved its roots of oxygen and nutrients.Nestled in the heart of the city in Kowloon Park, the tree, Hong Kong's oldest Chinese banyan, has been infected with the deadly brown root rot disease that authorities fear could spread to others nearby.
The slow and inexorable increase in the oceans
The wings of the experimental aircraft arch more than 63 metres, the same span as an Airbus A340, but they look frail, supported on the airstrip by wheeled struts. They are covered in a patina of 11,268 photovoltaic cells, which look dark blue in the grey predawn. The four 10-horsepower propellers they power now start to spin silently. Bertrand Piccard, a 55-year-old explorer and psychiatrist, dons his helmet and oxygen mask and completes his final checks. The Solar Impulse quietly taxies forwards. The plane is travelling impossibly slowly
A leaden cloak of responsibility lies on the shoulders of UN scientists as they put the final touches to the first volume of a massive report that will give the world the most detailed picture yet of climate change.Due to be unveiled in Stockholm on September 27, the document will be scrutinised word by word by green groups, fossil-fuel lobbies and governments to see if it will yank climate change out of prolonged political limbo.
Self-driving taxis could become a reality. Google is reportedly now designing and developing its own self-driving car, instead of solely modifying existing vehicles as it's done up to this point, reports the recently departed Wall Street Journal writer Amir Efrati. Google's efforts to get its self-driving vehicle technology built into major automakers' cars have reportedly failed to bring about a partnership, and the company is now said to be interested in making a car of its own.
These are lean times for Ashif Mohamed
The Moon probably had water when it first formed four and a half billion years ago, according to a new study.Research reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, found evidence of water that was brought to the surface from deep within the lunar mantle by a series of ancient impacts."I think it would be very tough to have this water be anywhere other than original to the material that formed the moon," says the study's lead author Dr Rachel Klima of Johns Hopkins University.
The Dutch-based Mars One venture says more than 165,000 people around the world have voiced interest in a one-way trip to the Red Planet
A new study of insect pests found in an ancient storage jar on the Greek island of Santorini suggests the major volcanic eruption that took place there around 1600 B.C.
Why did humans invent music?Until the hot tub time machine becomes a reality, the answer to that question will remain as mysterious as the true identity of the '60s garage band ? and the Mysterians.
The passenger pigeon, the dodo and the woolly mammoth are just a few of the species wiped off the Earth by changing environments and human activities.Now, advances in biotechnology could enable scientists to bring extinct animals back from the grave. But critics argue the practice would only hinder conservation efforts, by resurrecting creatures that could not survive in the wild.
India has banned hunting sharks for only their fins in a move to protect endangered species from indiscriminate hunting for parts wanted abroad.The practice of shark 'finning', or slicing off a shark's fins and throwing it back to die slowly on the ocean floor from starvation or inability to move, has exploded worldwide due to demand from China, where shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
Mercury spilled into the air from polluting industrial centres travels thousands of miles before raining into the oceans to poison fish, according to scientists.The findings suggest that levels of the toxic metal in edible fish is likely to rise in the coming decades.
Sea ice decline and warming trends are changing the vegetation in nearby arctic coastal areas, according to two University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists.Uma Bhatt, an associate professor with UAF's Geophysical Institute, and Skip Walker, a professor at UAF's Institute of Arctic Biology, contributed to a recent review of research on the response of plants, marine life and animals to declining sea ice in the Arctic.
A 400-year-old banyan tree in Hong Kong will be cut down, authorities said Friday, after being hit by a fungal disease brought on when a park development starved its roots of oxygen and nutrients.Nestled in the heart of the city in Kowloon Park, the tree, Hong Kong's oldest Chinese banyan, has been infected with the deadly brown root rot disease that authorities fear could spread to others nearby.
A leaden cloak of responsibility lies on the shoulders of UN scientists as they put the final touches to the first volume of a massive report that will give the world the most detailed picture yet of climate change.Due to be unveiled in Stockholm on September 27, the document will be scrutinised word by word by green groups, fossil-fuel lobbies and governments to see if it will yank climate change out of prolonged political limbo.
Self-driving taxis could become a reality. Google is reportedly now designing and developing its own self-driving car, instead of solely modifying existing vehicles as it's done up to this point, reports the recently departed Wall Street Journal writer Amir Efrati. Google's efforts to get its self-driving vehicle technology built into major automakers' cars have reportedly failed to bring about a partnership, and the company is now said to be interested in making a car of its own.
The Moon probably had water when it first formed four and a half billion years ago, according to a new study.Research reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, found evidence of water that was brought to the surface from deep within the lunar mantle by a series of ancient impacts."I think it would be very tough to have this water be anywhere other than original to the material that formed the moon," says the study's lead author Dr Rachel Klima of Johns Hopkins University.
The detention and subsequent criminal investigation into the partner of a Guardian journalist threatens to undermine the position of the free press around the world, the editors of several northern European newspapers have warned.Related: Guardian partners with New York Times over Snowden GCHQ files
EARLIER this summer the actor Jim Carrey, a star of the new superhero movie
Good news for gamers: a new British study finds that some video games can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic thinking.Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London recruited 72 female volunteers and measured their "cognitive flexibility," described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between tasks and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.
Cocaine increases the brain
Are you a "glass half-full" or a "glass half-empty" kind of person?As it turns out, some people can be both. So-called realistic optimists combine the positive outlook of optimists with the clear-eyed perspective of pessimists, new research has found.
Researchers believe they have pinpointed the skeletal remains of the first known human-Neanderthal hybrid, according to a study published this May in the peer reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE. The finding came from northern Italy, where some 40,000 years ago scientists believe Neandertals and humans lived near each other, but developed separate and distinctly different cultures.
International team of archaeologists discovered ancient burial ground with rich tombs and a stone circle during research in the Roman camp in the village Kartal - Orlowka on the Danube in Ukraine.Excavations were conducted jointly by archaeologists and students from the Department of Archaeology, Institute of History of the University of Opole under the direction of Dr. Magdalena Przysiezna-Pizarska, Wroclaw branch of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS, in collaboration with scientists from the Faculty of History and Archaeological Museum in Odessa.
A Quebec archaeological team will begin its work at an extraordinary site this week, as it explores a settlement that could be as old as the invention of the wheel.The Saunders Goose Pond discovery, which could date back 7,000 years, was found last summer on Waskaganish territory in northern Quebec.
The Egyptian elite was buried in a coffin placed inside another coffin -- in ensembles of up to eight coffins. This was intended to ensure the transformation of the deceased from human to deity, according to Anders Bettum, Egyptologist."Boxes and other forms of containers are technologies that arise at given points of time in various cultures. Everybody knows the ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying their dead. What is perhaps less known is that they placed the mummies inside layer upon layer of coffins," says Anders Bettum, Egyptologist at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo.
ST. HILARION, Gaza Strip
At least 160 fragments of sculptures, possibly jaguars, were discovered by specialists in the archaeological park of Cihuatan, located in central El Salvador, the Culture Secretariat said.The remains come from "five or six feline sculptures," found along with pieces of two censers, the secretariat said in a statement.
Talk about ancient girl power!Archaeologists working in Peru have uncovered the skeleton of a woman believed to have been a high priestess of a mysterious culture that existed around 1,200 years ago. The pre-Hispanic remains were found in late July in an impressive burial chamber located in the country's northern Chepén province, according to the Agence France-Presse.
Archaeologists have discovered a ring with an inconspicuous cavity that they believe may have been used to hide poison for political murders in medieval Bulgaria.The bronze ring, which is more than 600 years old, was found during excavations at the ruins of Cape Kailakra, where aristocrats of the Dobrudja region lived during the 14th century.
In Peru, home to the spectacular Inca city of Machu Picchu and thousands of ancient ruins, archaeologists are turning to drones to speed up sluggish survey work and protect sites from squatters, builders and miners.Remote-controlled aircraft were developed for military purposes and the US is increasingly using them to attack alleged terrorists, but the technology's falling price means it is increasingly used for civilian and commercial projects around the world.
Canadian lawmakers have enlisted a drone to disperse a large flock of Canada geese at a popular beach this summer, pleasing swimmers concerned about water quality.Canada geese are relatively harmless, but their droppings
Birds might be paying more attention to road speed limits than some humans. A new study finds that some European birds factor in average traffic speeds when determining when they need to take off to safely avoid oncoming cars.In a new study, published in this week's issue of the journal Biology Letters, scientists tested whether European birds standing on the side of the road altered their escape distances in response to how fast an approaching car was moving or to road speed limits.
Strange particles called neutrinos have a habit of switching identities, changing from one flavor into another
THE relentless pursuit of urbanisation has ensured that a few hundred Iron Age megalithic burial sites, which included menhirs, cairn circles, stone circles, dolmens and dolmenoid cists, have been destroyed in Tamil Nadu. The latest to face destruction were burial sites near Veeranam village at the foot of a chain of hills in Tiruvannamalai district, at Vellaripatti village on the outskirts of Madurai on the Madurai-Tiruchi highway, at Onampakkam near Cheyyur in Kancheepuram district; on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road near Chennai, and at Venpakkam near Singaperumal Kovil, also near Chennai. A Palaeolithic site at Perumbakkam (close to the Old Mamallapuram Road) near Medavakkam, Chennai, where stone tools crafted by man some 200,000 years ago have been discovered, is under threat...
The detention and subsequent criminal investigation into the partner of a Guardian journalist threatens to undermine the position of the free press around the world, the editors of several northern European newspapers have warned.Related: Guardian partners with New York Times over Snowden GCHQ files
EARLIER this summer the actor Jim Carrey, a star of the new superhero movie
Good news for gamers: a new British study finds that some video games can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic thinking.Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London recruited 72 female volunteers and measured their "cognitive flexibility," described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between tasks and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.
Cocaine increases the brain
Are you a "glass half-full" or a "glass half-empty" kind of person?As it turns out, some people can be both. So-called realistic optimists combine the positive outlook of optimists with the clear-eyed perspective of pessimists, new research has found.
Researchers believe they have pinpointed the skeletal remains of the first known human-Neanderthal hybrid, according to a study published this May in the peer reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE. The finding came from northern Italy, where some 40,000 years ago scientists believe Neandertals and humans lived near each other, but developed separate and distinctly different cultures.
International team of archaeologists discovered ancient burial ground with rich tombs and a stone circle during research in the Roman camp in the village Kartal - Orlowka on the Danube in Ukraine.Excavations were conducted jointly by archaeologists and students from the Department of Archaeology, Institute of History of the University of Opole under the direction of Dr. Magdalena Przysiezna-Pizarska, Wroclaw branch of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS, in collaboration with scientists from the Faculty of History and Archaeological Museum in Odessa.
A Quebec archaeological team will begin its work at an extraordinary site this week, as it explores a settlement that could be as old as the invention of the wheel.The Saunders Goose Pond discovery, which could date back 7,000 years, was found last summer on Waskaganish territory in northern Quebec.
The Egyptian elite was buried in a coffin placed inside another coffin -- in ensembles of up to eight coffins. This was intended to ensure the transformation of the deceased from human to deity, according to Anders Bettum, Egyptologist."Boxes and other forms of containers are technologies that arise at given points of time in various cultures. Everybody knows the ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying their dead. What is perhaps less known is that they placed the mummies inside layer upon layer of coffins," says Anders Bettum, Egyptologist at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo.
ST. HILARION, Gaza Strip
At least 160 fragments of sculptures, possibly jaguars, were discovered by specialists in the archaeological park of Cihuatan, located in central El Salvador, the Culture Secretariat said.The remains come from "five or six feline sculptures," found along with pieces of two censers, the secretariat said in a statement.
Talk about ancient girl power!Archaeologists working in Peru have uncovered the skeleton of a woman believed to have been a high priestess of a mysterious culture that existed around 1,200 years ago. The pre-Hispanic remains were found in late July in an impressive burial chamber located in the country's northern Chepén province, according to the Agence France-Presse.
Archaeologists have discovered a ring with an inconspicuous cavity that they believe may have been used to hide poison for political murders in medieval Bulgaria.The bronze ring, which is more than 600 years old, was found during excavations at the ruins of Cape Kailakra, where aristocrats of the Dobrudja region lived during the 14th century.
In Peru, home to the spectacular Inca city of Machu Picchu and thousands of ancient ruins, archaeologists are turning to drones to speed up sluggish survey work and protect sites from squatters, builders and miners.Remote-controlled aircraft were developed for military purposes and the US is increasingly using them to attack alleged terrorists, but the technology's falling price means it is increasingly used for civilian and commercial projects around the world.
Canadian lawmakers have enlisted a drone to disperse a large flock of Canada geese at a popular beach this summer, pleasing swimmers concerned about water quality.Canada geese are relatively harmless, but their droppings
Birds might be paying more attention to road speed limits than some humans. A new study finds that some European birds factor in average traffic speeds when determining when they need to take off to safely avoid oncoming cars.In a new study, published in this week's issue of the journal Biology Letters, scientists tested whether European birds standing on the side of the road altered their escape distances in response to how fast an approaching car was moving or to road speed limits.
Strange particles called neutrinos have a habit of switching identities, changing from one flavor into another
THE relentless pursuit of urbanisation has ensured that a few hundred Iron Age megalithic burial sites, which included menhirs, cairn circles, stone circles, dolmens and dolmenoid cists, have been destroyed in Tamil Nadu. The latest to face destruction were burial sites near Veeranam village at the foot of a chain of hills in Tiruvannamalai district, at Vellaripatti village on the outskirts of Madurai on the Madurai-Tiruchi highway, at Onampakkam near Cheyyur in Kancheepuram district; on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road near Chennai, and at Venpakkam near Singaperumal Kovil, also near Chennai. A Palaeolithic site at Perumbakkam (close to the Old Mamallapuram Road) near Medavakkam, Chennai, where stone tools crafted by man some 200,000 years ago have been discovered, is under threat...
The detention and subsequent criminal investigation into the partner of a Guardian journalist threatens to undermine the position of the free press around the world, the editors of several northern European newspapers have warned.Related: Guardian partners with New York Times over Snowden GCHQ files
EARLIER this summer the actor Jim Carrey, a star of the new superhero movie
Good news for gamers: a new British study finds that some video games can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic thinking.Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London recruited 72 female volunteers and measured their "cognitive flexibility," described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between tasks and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.
Cocaine increases the brain
Are you a "glass half-full" or a "glass half-empty" kind of person?As it turns out, some people can be both. So-called realistic optimists combine the positive outlook of optimists with the clear-eyed perspective of pessimists, new research has found.
Researchers believe they have pinpointed the skeletal remains of the first known human-Neanderthal hybrid, according to a study published this May in the peer reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE. The finding came from northern Italy, where some 40,000 years ago scientists believe Neandertals and humans lived near each other, but developed separate and distinctly different cultures.
International team of archaeologists discovered ancient burial ground with rich tombs and a stone circle during research in the Roman camp in the village Kartal - Orlowka on the Danube in Ukraine.Excavations were conducted jointly by archaeologists and students from the Department of Archaeology, Institute of History of the University of Opole under the direction of Dr. Magdalena Przysiezna-Pizarska, Wroclaw branch of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS, in collaboration with scientists from the Faculty of History and Archaeological Museum in Odessa.
A Quebec archaeological team will begin its work at an extraordinary site this week, as it explores a settlement that could be as old as the invention of the wheel.The Saunders Goose Pond discovery, which could date back 7,000 years, was found last summer on Waskaganish territory in northern Quebec.
The Egyptian elite was buried in a coffin placed inside another coffin -- in ensembles of up to eight coffins. This was intended to ensure the transformation of the deceased from human to deity, according to Anders Bettum, Egyptologist."Boxes and other forms of containers are technologies that arise at given points of time in various cultures. Everybody knows the ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying their dead. What is perhaps less known is that they placed the mummies inside layer upon layer of coffins," says Anders Bettum, Egyptologist at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo.
ST. HILARION, Gaza Strip
At least 160 fragments of sculptures, possibly jaguars, were discovered by specialists in the archaeological park of Cihuatan, located in central El Salvador, the Culture Secretariat said.The remains come from "five or six feline sculptures," found along with pieces of two censers, the secretariat said in a statement.
Talk about ancient girl power!Archaeologists working in Peru have uncovered the skeleton of a woman believed to have been a high priestess of a mysterious culture that existed around 1,200 years ago. The pre-Hispanic remains were found in late July in an impressive burial chamber located in the country's northern Chepén province, according to the Agence France-Presse.
Archaeologists have discovered a ring with an inconspicuous cavity that they believe may have been used to hide poison for political murders in medieval Bulgaria.The bronze ring, which is more than 600 years old, was found during excavations at the ruins of Cape Kailakra, where aristocrats of the Dobrudja region lived during the 14th century.
In Peru, home to the spectacular Inca city of Machu Picchu and thousands of ancient ruins, archaeologists are turning to drones to speed up sluggish survey work and protect sites from squatters, builders and miners.Remote-controlled aircraft were developed for military purposes and the US is increasingly using them to attack alleged terrorists, but the technology's falling price means it is increasingly used for civilian and commercial projects around the world.
Canadian lawmakers have enlisted a drone to disperse a large flock of Canada geese at a popular beach this summer, pleasing swimmers concerned about water quality.Canada geese are relatively harmless, but their droppings
Birds might be paying more attention to road speed limits than some humans. A new study finds that some European birds factor in average traffic speeds when determining when they need to take off to safely avoid oncoming cars.In a new study, published in this week's issue of the journal Biology Letters, scientists tested whether European birds standing on the side of the road altered their escape distances in response to how fast an approaching car was moving or to road speed limits.
Strange particles called neutrinos have a habit of switching identities, changing from one flavor into another
THE relentless pursuit of urbanisation has ensured that a few hundred Iron Age megalithic burial sites, which included menhirs, cairn circles, stone circles, dolmens and dolmenoid cists, have been destroyed in Tamil Nadu. The latest to face destruction were burial sites near Veeranam village at the foot of a chain of hills in Tiruvannamalai district, at Vellaripatti village on the outskirts of Madurai on the Madurai-Tiruchi highway, at Onampakkam near Cheyyur in Kancheepuram district; on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road near Chennai, and at Venpakkam near Singaperumal Kovil, also near Chennai. A Palaeolithic site at Perumbakkam (close to the Old Mamallapuram Road) near Medavakkam, Chennai, where stone tools crafted by man some 200,000 years ago have been discovered, is under threat...
The detention and subsequent criminal investigation into the partner of a Guardian journalist threatens to undermine the position of the free press around the world, the editors of several northern European newspapers have warned.Related: Guardian partners with New York Times over Snowden GCHQ files
Good news for gamers: a new British study finds that some video games can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic thinking.Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London recruited 72 female volunteers and measured their "cognitive flexibility," described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between tasks and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.
Are you a "glass half-full" or a "glass half-empty" kind of person?As it turns out, some people can be both. So-called realistic optimists combine the positive outlook of optimists with the clear-eyed perspective of pessimists, new research has found.
Researchers believe they have pinpointed the skeletal remains of the first known human-Neanderthal hybrid, according to a study published this May in the peer reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE. The finding came from northern Italy, where some 40,000 years ago scientists believe Neandertals and humans lived near each other, but developed separate and distinctly different cultures.
International team of archaeologists discovered ancient burial ground with rich tombs and a stone circle during research in the Roman camp in the village Kartal - Orlowka on the Danube in Ukraine.Excavations were conducted jointly by archaeologists and students from the Department of Archaeology, Institute of History of the University of Opole under the direction of Dr. Magdalena Przysiezna-Pizarska, Wroclaw branch of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS, in collaboration with scientists from the Faculty of History and Archaeological Museum in Odessa.
A Quebec archaeological team will begin its work at an extraordinary site this week, as it explores a settlement that could be as old as the invention of the wheel.The Saunders Goose Pond discovery, which could date back 7,000 years, was found last summer on Waskaganish territory in northern Quebec.
The Egyptian elite was buried in a coffin placed inside another coffin -- in ensembles of up to eight coffins. This was intended to ensure the transformation of the deceased from human to deity, according to Anders Bettum, Egyptologist."Boxes and other forms of containers are technologies that arise at given points of time in various cultures. Everybody knows the ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying their dead. What is perhaps less known is that they placed the mummies inside layer upon layer of coffins," says Anders Bettum, Egyptologist at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo.
At least 160 fragments of sculptures, possibly jaguars, were discovered by specialists in the archaeological park of Cihuatan, located in central El Salvador, the Culture Secretariat said.The remains come from "five or six feline sculptures," found along with pieces of two censers, the secretariat said in a statement.
Talk about ancient girl power!Archaeologists working in Peru have uncovered the skeleton of a woman believed to have been a high priestess of a mysterious culture that existed around 1,200 years ago. The pre-Hispanic remains were found in late July in an impressive burial chamber located in the country's northern Chepén province, according to the Agence France-Presse.
Archaeologists have discovered a ring with an inconspicuous cavity that they believe may have been used to hide poison for political murders in medieval Bulgaria.The bronze ring, which is more than 600 years old, was found during excavations at the ruins of Cape Kailakra, where aristocrats of the Dobrudja region lived during the 14th century.
In Peru, home to the spectacular Inca city of Machu Picchu and thousands of ancient ruins, archaeologists are turning to drones to speed up sluggish survey work and protect sites from squatters, builders and miners.Remote-controlled aircraft were developed for military purposes and the US is increasingly using them to attack alleged terrorists, but the technology's falling price means it is increasingly used for civilian and commercial projects around the world.
Birds might be paying more attention to road speed limits than some humans. A new study finds that some European birds factor in average traffic speeds when determining when they need to take off to safely avoid oncoming cars.In a new study, published in this week's issue of the journal Biology Letters, scientists tested whether European birds standing on the side of the road altered their escape distances in response to how fast an approaching car was moving or to road speed limits.
THE relentless pursuit of urbanisation has ensured that a few hundred Iron Age megalithic burial sites, which included menhirs, cairn circles, stone circles, dolmens and dolmenoid cists, have been destroyed in Tamil Nadu. The latest to face destruction were burial sites near Veeranam village at the foot of a chain of hills in Tiruvannamalai district, at Vellaripatti village on the outskirts of Madurai on the Madurai-Tiruchi highway, at Onampakkam near Cheyyur in Kancheepuram district; on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road near Chennai, and at Venpakkam near Singaperumal Kovil, also near Chennai. A Palaeolithic site at Perumbakkam (close to the Old Mamallapuram Road) near Medavakkam, Chennai, where stone tools crafted by man some 200,000 years ago have been discovered, is under threat...
One of the first stepping stones for Europeans as they explored across the Atlantic to ultimately land in the Americas was colonized much earlier than previously thought -- and not by the Vikings, who were once thought to be the pioneers of those isles, researchers say.The Faroe Islands are located about halfway between Norway and Iceland. They were the first stepping stones beyond the Scottish archipelago of the Shetlands for the Viking diaspora that culminated in the European discovery of continental North America in the 11th century, about 400 or 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage.
Pet-keeping and animal sacrifice in antiquity were common practices. How the animals were treated can often be seen archaeologically.By most modern standards, household pets such as cats and dogs are looked at as companion animals. It can be assumed that some people in the past acquired a similar affection to household or working animals. A companion animal is generally valued as being able to bring its owner a sense of loyalty, comfort, security and friendship.
A treasure hunter has unearthed a valuable silver ring that provides new evidence for the spread of early Christianity in Britain before St Augustine arrived on an official mission in 597AD.The ring, found by an anonymous treasure hunter in Swaffham, Norfolk, is inscribed with words commonly found on converts' rings.Experts have dated the ring between 312 and 410AD, long before Augustine's official mission to convert the Britons in 597AD.