Unearthed! in Autumn 2024, Part 1
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Pyramids, Snacks, and Cannon Conservation
This chapter revisits significant archaeological findings about the construction of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, suggesting the use of hydraulic lifts in moving stone blocks. It also features a light-hearted discussion on road trip snacks and provides insights into the preservation efforts for a cannon linked to the Battle of the Alamo, showcasing the challenges faced by conservators.
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Episode notes
Part one of this edition of Unearthed! is mostly updates - about two-thirds of the episode. The rest is weapons, medicine, and books and letters.
Research:
- 19 News Investigative Team. “Exhumation of Cleveland Torso Killer’s unidentified victims now underway.” https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/08/09/exhumation-cleveland-torso-killers-unidentified-victims-now-underway/
- Abdallah, Hanna. “Hydraulic lift technology may have helped build Egypt’s iconic Pyramid of Djoser.” EurekAlert. 8/5/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1051645
- Addley, Esther. “Dorset ‘Stonehenge’ under Thomas Hardy’s home given protected status.” The Guardian. 9/24/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/24/dorset-stonehenge-discovered-under-thomas-hardy-home-dorchester
- Adhi Agus Oktaviana et al, Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07541-7
- Agence France-Presse. “‘Virtually intact’ wreck off Scotland believed to be Royal Navy warship torpedoed in first world war.” The Guardian. 8/17/2024. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/17/virtually-intact-wreck-off-scotland-believed-to-be-royal-navy-warship-torpedoed-in-wwi
- Anderson, Sonja. “A Statue of a 12-Year-Old Hiroshima Victim Has Been Stolen.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/statue-of-a-child-killed-by-the-bombing-of-hiroshima-has-been-stolen-180984710/
- Anderson, Sonja. “An 11-Year-Old Boy Rescued a Mysterious Artwork From the Dump. It Turned Out to Be a 500-Year-Old Renaissance Print.” Smithsonian. 9/17/2024 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-11-year-old-boy-rescued-a-mysterious-artwork-from-the-dump-it-turned-out-to-be-a-500-year-old-renaissance-print-180985074/
- Anderson, Sonja. “Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Warship’s Bronze Battering Ram, Sunk During an Epic Battle Between Rome and Carthage.” Smithsonian. 8/28/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-ancient-warships-bronze-battering-ram-sunk-during-epic-battle-between-rome-and-carthage-180984983/
- ANderson, Sonja. “Someone Anonymously Mailed Two Bronze Age Axes to a Museum in Ireland.” Smithsonian. 7/15/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-anonymously-sent-bronze-age-axes-arrive-at-an-irish-museum-in-a-pancake-box-180984704/
- Anderson, Sonja. “These Signed Salvador Dalí Prints Were Forgotten in a Garage for Half a Century.” Smithsonian. 8/29/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-signed-salvador-dali-prints-were-forgotten-in-a-garage-for-half-a-century-180984994/
- Anderson, Sonja. “What Is the Secret Ingredient Behind Rembrandt’s Golden Glow?.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-secret-ingredient-behind-rembrandt-golden-glow-180984816/
- “Jamestown DNA helps solve a 400-year-old mystery and unexpectedly reveals a family secret.” Phys.org. 8/13/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-jamestown-dna-year-mystery-unexpectedly.html#google_vignette
- Ariane E. Thomas et al, The Dogs of Tsenacomoco: Ancient DNA Reveals the Presence of Local Dogs at Jamestown Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century, American Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.1017/aaq.2024.25
- Artnet “Previously Unknown Mozart Composition Turns Up in a German Library.” 9/20/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/unheard-mozart-composition-manuscript-found-leipzig-2540432
- ArtNet News. “Conservation of a Rubens Masterpiece Turns Up Hidden Alterations.” Artnet. 6/20/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rubens-judgement-of-paris-conservation-national-gallery-2501839
- Artnet News. “Gardner Museum Is Renovating the Room That Witnessed a Notorious Heist.” 9/18/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gardner-museum-renovate-dutch-room-2538856
- Benzine, Vittoria. “Turkish Archaeologists Uncover Millefiori Glass Panels for the First Time.” Artnet. 9/12/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/millefiori-glass-panels-turkey-2535407
- Binswanger, Julia. “A Thief Replaced This Iconic Churchill Portrait With a Fake. Two Years Later, the Original Has Been Recovered.” Smithsonian. 9/16/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-thief-replaced-this-iconic-churchill-portrait-with-a-fake-two-years-later-the-original-has-been-recovered-180985075/
- Binswanger, Julia. “A Viking-Era Vessel Found in Scotland a Decade Ago Turns Out to Be From Asia.” Smithsonian. 9/4/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-viking-era-vessel-found-in-scotland-a-decade-ago-turns-out-to-be-from-asia-180985021/
- Binswanger, Julia. “Hidden Self-Portrait by Norman Cornish Discovered Behind Another Painting .” Smithsonian. 7/24/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-hidden-norman-cornish-self-portrait-is-discovered-on-the-back-of-a-painting-180984741/
- Binswanger, Julia. “Students Stumble Upon a Message in a Bottle Written by a French Archaeologist 200 Years Ago.” Smithsonian. 9/25/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/students-discover-french-archaeologists-200-year-old-message-in-a-bottle-just-in-time-on-an-eroding-coast-180985129/
- Brinkhof, Tim. “Amateur Sleuths Are Convinced They Have Found Copernicus’s Famous Compass.” Artnet. 8/7/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/copernicus-compass-poland-2521967
- Brinkhof, Tim. “The U.K. Bars Export of Alan Turing’s Wartime Notebooks.” Artnet. 8/19/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/turing-notebooks-uk-export-bar-2525678
- Brown, DeNeen L. “Navy exonerates Black sailors charged in Port Chicago disaster 80 years ago.” Washington Post. 7/17/2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/07/17/port-chicago-disaster-navy-exonerates-black-sailors/
- Bryant, Chris. “Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing’s ‘Delilah’ project papers at risk of leaving the UK.” Gov.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/second-world-war-codebreaker-alan-turings-delilah-project-papers-at-risk-of-leaving-the-uk
- Byram, Scott et al. “Clovis points and foreshafts under braced weapon compression: Modeling Pleistocene megafauna encounters with a lithic pike.” PLOS One. 8/21/2024. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307996#sec013
- Cascone, Sarah. “Long-Lost Artemisia Gentileschi Masterpiece Goes on View After Centuries of Obscurity.” Artnet. 9/9/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kimbell-art-museum-artemisia-gentileschi-2533554
- Cascone, Sarah. “Mythical French ‘Excalibur’ Sword Goes Missing.” Artnet. 7/10/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/durandal-sword-in-the-stone-gone-missing-2510560
- Casey, Michael. “Discovery of musket balls brings alive one of the first battles in the American Revolution.” Associated Press. 7/17/2024. https://apnews.com/article/revolutionary-war-musket-balls-national-park-service-33dc4a91c00626ad0d27696458f09900
- David, B., Mullett, R., Wright, N. et al. Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age. Nat Hum Behav 8, 1481–1492 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01912-w
- Davis, Lisa Fagan. “Multispectral Imaging and the Voynich Manuscript.” Manuscript Road Trip. 9/8/2024. https://manuscriptroadtrip.wordpress.com/2024/09/08/multispectral-imaging-and-the-voynich-manuscript/
- Deliso, Meredith. “Witness gets emotional recounting doomed Titan dive during Coast Guard hearing on submersible implosion.” ABC News. 9/19/2024. https://abcnews.go.com/US/oceangate-titan-coast-guard-hearing-mission-specialist/story?id=113843817
- Feldman, Ella. “Painting Attributed to Rembrandt Found Tucked Away Inside an Attic in Maine.” 9/6/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/painting-attributed-to-rembrandt-found-tucked-away-inside-an-attic-in-maine-180985036/
- Fox, Jeremy C. “A French ship that sank after a collision in fog in 1856 off the Mass. coast has been found.” Boston Globe. 9/7/2024.. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/07/metro/ship-sank-1856-found-massachusetts/?event=event12
- com News Staff. “Bullet found with remains during excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery, marks 3rd confirmed gunshot victim.” 8/2/2024. https://www.fox23.com/news/bullet-found-with-remains-during-excavation-at-oaklawn-cemetery-marks-3rd-confirmed-gunshot-victim/article_bf2eb2c8-5122-11ef-b13a-7f883d394aae.html
- Giordano, Gaia et al. “Forensic toxicology backdates the use of coca plant (Erythroxylum spp.) in Europe to the early 1600s.” Journal of Archaeological Science. Volume 170, 2024, 106040, ISSN 0305-4403, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2024.106040.
- Gouevia, Flavia. “Donegal farmer uncovers 22kg slab of ancient bog butter.” The Irish News. 9/13/2024. https://www.irishnews.com/news/ireland/donegal-farmer-uncovers-22kg-slab-of-ancient-bog-butter-YUJKZVXG6NH43G3SBZ3DAUDCHI/
- Hawkins, Grant. “Texas A&M’s Quest To Save An Alamo Cannon.” Texas A&M Today. 7/31/2024. https://today.tamu.edu/2024/07/31/texas-ams-quest-to-save-an-alamo-cannon/
- Howe, Craig and Lukas Rieppel. “Why museums should repatriate fossils.” Nature. 6/18/2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02027-y
- Ian G. Barber et al, American sweet potato and Asia-Pacific crop experimentation during early colonisation of temperate-climate Aotearoa/New Zealand, Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.143
- Imai, Kunihiko. “Researchers identify mystery artifact from ancient capital.” The Ashai Shimbun. 9/5/2024. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15415562
- Kael, Sascha. “The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers.” EurekAlert. 7/10/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050694
- Kokkinidis, Tasos. “Second Ancient Shipwreck Discovered at Antikythera, Greece.” Greek Reporter. 7/1/2024. https://greekreporter.com/2024/07/01/second-ancient-shipwreck-discovered-antikythera-greece/
- Kovac, Adam. “17th-Century Mummified Brains Test Positive for Cocaine.” 8/27/2024. https://gizmodo.com/17th-century-mummified-brains-test-positive-for-cocaine-2000491460
- Kuta, Sarah. “Divers Can Now Explore Historic Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan More Easily.” Smithsonian. 8/23/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/divers-can-now-explore-historic-shipwrecks-in-lake-michigan-more-easily-180984959/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Divers Find Crates of Unopened Champagne in 19th-Century Shipwreck.” Smithsonian. 7/31/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/divers-find-shipwreck-loaded-with-champagne-near-sweden-180984784/
- Kuta, Sarah. “DNA Reveals Identity of Officer on the Lost Franklin Expedition—and His Remains Show Signs of Cannibalism.” Smithsonian. 9/26/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-reveals-identity-of-officer-on-the-lost-franklin-expedition-and-his-remains-show-signs-of-cannibalism-180985154/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Shipwreck Found in Lake Michigan 130 Years After Sinking With Captain’s ‘Intelligent and Faithful’ Dog Onboard.” Smithsonian. 7/25/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwreck-found-in-lake-michigan-130-years-after-sinking-with-captains-intelligent-and-faithful-dog-onboard-180984766/
- Larson, Christina. “Stonehenge's 'altar stone' originally came from Scotland and not Wales, new research shows.” Phys.org. 8/17/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-stonehenge-altar-stone-scotland-wales.html
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “A Marble God Is Found in an Ancient Roman Sewer.” Artnet. 7/9/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/marble-hermes-ancient-roman-sewer-2509628
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Legal Battle Intensifies Over Tunnel That May ‘Irreversibly Harm’ Stonehenge.” Artnet. 7/24/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/legal-battle-stonehenge-tunnel-2515809
- Martin B. Sweatman, Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism, Time and Mind (2024). DOI: 10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876
- Merrington, Andrew. “Archaeological scanners offer 2,000-year window into the world of Roman medicine.” Phys.org. 7/16/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-archaeological-scanners-year-window-world.html#google_vignette
- Metcalfe, Tom. “3 shipwrecks from 'forgotten battle' of World War II discovered off remote Alaskan island.” LiveScience. 8/18/2024. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/3-shipwrecks-from-forgotten-battle-of-world-war-ii-discovered-off-remote-alaskan-island
- Moreno-Mayar, J.V., Sousa da Mota, B., Higham, T. et al. Ancient Rapanui genomes reveal resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas. Nature 633, 389–397 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07881-4
- National Museum of Ireland. “Appeal for information about Bronze Age axeheads found in Westmeath.” https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/News/Appeal-for-information-about-Bronze-Age-Axeheads-F
- Nichols, Kaila. “A history buff bought a piece of a tent from Goodwill for $1,700. It really did belong to George Washington.” CNN. 7/21/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/21/us/george-washington-tent-fragment-goodwill/index.html
- Ogliore, Talia. “Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa.” EurekAlert. 7/9/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050678
- Orie, Amarachi. “New Titanic photos show major decay to legendary wreck.” CNN. 9/2/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/02/science/titanic-photos-show-major-decay-intl-scli/index.html
- Owsley DW, Bruwelheide KS, Harney É, et al. Historical and archaeogenomic identification of high-status Englishmen at Jamestown, Virginia. Antiquity. 2024;98(400):1040-1054. doi:10.15184/aqy.2024.75
- org . “New finds in treasure-laden shipwreck off Colombia.” 8/9/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-treasure-laden-shipwreck-colombia.html#google_vignette
- Pirchner, Deborah. “Pompeii skeleton discovery shows another natural disaster may have made Vesuvius eruption even more deadly.” EurekAlert. 7/18/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050523
- Qiblawi, Adnan. “A Metal Tube in a Polish Museum Turns Out to Be a 150-Year-Old Time Capsule.” Artnet. 7/5/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/polish-museum-time-capsule-2508303
- Cooley et al, Rainforest response to glacial terminations before and after human arrival in Lutruwita (Tasmania), Quaternary Science Reviews (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108572
- Schrader, Adam. “Historian Identifies Lost Henry VIII Portrait in Background of Social Media Photo.” Artnet. 7/26/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/historian-identifies-henry-viii-portrait-social-media-photo-2517144
- Seaton, Jamie. “Did Prehistoric Children Make Figurines Out of Clay?” Smithsonian. 7/2/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/did-prehistoric-children-make-figurines-out-of-clay-180984534/
- Solly, Melian. “Archaeologists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Lead Coffin Discovered Beneath Notre-Dame.” Smithsonian. 9/18/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-say-theyve-solved-the-mystery-of-a-lead-coffin-discovered-beneath-notre-dame-180985103/
- Stockholm University. "Study reveals isolation, endogamy and pathogens in early medieval Spanish community." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 August 2024. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240828154921.htm.
- Strickland, Ashley. “Archaeologists unearth tiny 3,500-year-old clay tablet following an earthquake.” CNN. 8/16/2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/science/ancient-cuneiform-tablet-turkey-earthquake/index.html
- Svennevig, Birgitte. “Chemical analyses find hidden elements from renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe’s alchemy laboratory.” EurekAlert. 7/24/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1052085
- The History Blog. “Animal figurine found in early Viking settlement in Iceland.” 8/27/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70960
- The History Blog. “Bronze Age axe found off Norwegian coast.” 7/14/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70697
- The History Blog. “Tomb of military leader in Augustus’ wars in Spain found in Pompeii.” 7/17/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/70715
- The History Blog. “Wolf teeth found in ancient Venetii cremation burial.” 9/25/2024. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/71171
- Thomas AE, Hill ME, Stricker L, et al. The Dogs of Tsenacomoco: Ancient DNA Reveals the Presence of Local Dogs at Jamestown Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century. American Antiquity. 2024;89(3):341-359. doi:10.1017/aaq.2024.25
- Thorsberg, Christian. “Sticks Discovered in Australian Cave Shed New Light on an Aboriginal Ritual Passed Down for 12,000 Years.” Smithsonian. 7/9/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sticks-discovered-in-australian-cave-shed-new-light-on-an-aboriginal-ritual-passed-down-for-12000-years-180984642/
- Whiddington, Richard. “Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ Appear Blue Today, But Were Once More Violet, New Research Finds.” Artnet. 7/24/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/van-gogh-irises-getty-2515593
- Whiddington, Richard. “Was Venice’s Famed Winged Lion Statue Actually Made in China?.” Artnet. 9/17/2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bronze-venice-lion-from-china-2537486
- Wizevich, Eli. “Newly Deciphered, 4,000-Year-Old Cuneiform Tablets Used Lunar Eclipses to Predict Major Events.” Smithsonian. 8/9/2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/newly-deciphered-4000-year-old-cuneiform-tablets-used-lunar-eclipses-to-predict-major-events-180984871/
- Woolston, Chris. “New study challenges drought theory for Cahokia exodus.” Phys.org. 7/3/2024. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-drought-theory-cahokia-exodus.html
- Potter, Lisa. “Genetics reveal ancient trade routes and path to domestication of the Four Corners potato Genetic analysis shows that ancient.” EurekAlert. 7/24/2024. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1052517
- Cell Press. "World's oldest cheese reveals origins of kefir." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 September 2024. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240925122859.htm
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