Unearthed! in July 2025, Part 2
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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Unearthing the Past: Insights from Ancient Artifacts
This chapter highlights significant archaeological discoveries that provide insights into human and Neanderthal history, including ancient seafaring tools from Malta and a Neanderthal fingerprint from Spain. The discussion also covers remarkable finds such as a bronze wrist purse from a Roman soldier, a Byzantine-era bucket, and a civilian car aboard the USS Yorktown. Additionally, it explores recent underwater explorations and the identification of historic shipwrecks, enhancing our understanding of trade, burial practices, and maritime history.
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This edition of Unearthed! continues, this time covering the mixed items we call potpourri, shipwrecks, edibles and potables, books and letters, and exhumations.
Research:
- Agencia Brasil. “Cave Paintings Discovered in Rio de Janiero Park.” 4/13/2025. https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/educacao/noticia/2025-04/cave-paintings-discovered-rio-de-janeiro-park
- Anderson, R. L., Salvemini, F., Avdeev, M., & Luzin, V. (2025). An African Art Re-Discovered: New Revelations on Sword Manufacture in Dahomey. Heritage, 8(2), 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8020062
- Archaeology Magazine. “5,000-year-old Bread Buried in Bronze Age House.” 6/4/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/06/04/5000-year-old-bread-buried-in-bronze-age-house/
- Archaeology Magazine. “Fried Thrush Was a Popular Street Food.” 6/6/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/06/06/fried-thrush-was-a-popular-roman-street-food/
- Arnold, Paul. “Dentist may have solved 500-year-old mystery in da Vinci's iconic Vitruvian Man.” Phys.org. 7/2/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dentist-year-mystery-da-vinci.html
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). “New revelations on sword manufacture in 19th-century Dahomey, West Africa.” Phys.org. 5/11/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-revelations-sword-19th-century-dahomey.html
- Black, Jo. “Cut-price Magna Carta 'copy' now believed genuine.” BBC. 5/15/2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm23zjknre7o
- Boucher, Brian. “Antique Condom on View at the Rijksmuseum Riles Christian Group.” ArtNet. 6/26/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/antique-condom-rijksmuseum-christian-protest-2661519
- Brown, Mark. “Rare wall paintings found in Cumbria show tastes of well-off Tudors.” The Guardian. 4/4/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/04/rare-wall-paintings-found-in-cumbria-show-tastes-of-well-off-tudors
- Carvajal, Guillermo. “The Oldest Vanilla Pod in Europe, Used in Alchemical Experiments, Discovered at Prague Castle.” LBV. 3/31/2025. https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/03/the-oldest-vanilla-pod-in-europe-used-in-alchemical-experiments-discovered-at-prague-castle/
- Carvajal, Guillermo. “Thrushes Were the “Fast Food” of Romans in Imperial Cities, Not an Exclusive Delicacy for Banquets.” LBV. 6/3/2025. https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/06/thrushes-were-the-fast-food-of-romans-in-imperial-cities-not-an-exclusive-delicacy-for-banquets/
- Carvajal, Guillermo. The Spectacular Tomb of the Ice Prince, a Medieval Child Buried in an Ancient Roman Villa, Frozen for Study.” LBV. 5/25/2025. https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/05/the-spectacular-tomb-of-the-ice-prince-a-medieval-child-buried-in-an-ancient-roman-villa-frozen-for-study/
- Chen, Min. “Roman Villa in Spain Yields More Than 4,000 Painted Wall Fragments.” ArtNet. 4/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/roman-villa-villajoyosa-wall-fragments-2634055
- Chen, Min. “These Medieval Manuscripts Were Bound With an Unlikely Animal Hide.” ArtNet. 4/12/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/clairvaux-medieval-manuscripts-sealskin-2630996
- Chen, Min. “Think Shakespeare Left His Wife? This Newly Discovered Letter Tells a Different Story.” ArtNet. 4/28/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/shakespeare-anne-hathaway-marriage-letter-2636443
- Chen, Min. “This 6th-Century Bucket Discovered at Sutton Hoo Is More Than It Seems.” ArtNet. 5/22/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/sutton-hoo-bromeswell-bucket-not-bucket-2648124
- Dartmouth College. “Archaeologists uncover massive 1,000-year-old Native American fields in Northern Michigan that defy limits of farming.” Phys.org. 6/5/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-archaeologists-uncover-massive-year-native.html
- Davis, Josh. “Ancient humans ritually feasted on great bustards as they buried their dead.” Phys.org. 4/17/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-ancient-humans-ritually-feasted-great.html
- Drenon, Brandon. “Tulsa plans $105m in reparations for America's 'hidden' massacre.” BBC. 6/2/2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dqnz37v1wo
- Equal Justice Initiative. “City Announces Reparations for Tulsa Race Massacre.” https://eji.org/news/city-announces-reparations-for-tulsa-race-massacre/
- “Researchers estimate that early humans began smoking meat to extend its shelf life as long as a million years ago.” 6/3/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1086138
- Fox, Jordan. “Anthropologist uncovers the 11,000-year history of avocado domestication.” Phys.org. 6/24/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-anthropologist-uncovers-year-history-avocado.html
- Fratsyvir, Anna. “Ukraine grants Poland permission to exhume 1939 war graves in Lviv.” The Kyiv Independent. 6/11/2025. https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-grants-poland-permission-to-exhume-1939-war-graves-in-lviv/
- Giuffrida, Angela. “Two near lifesize sculptures found during excavations of Pompeii tomb.” The Guardian. 4/1/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/01/two-near-lifesize-sculptures-found-during-excavations-of-pompeii-tomb
- Guardian staff and agencies in Lima. “Peru drops plan to shrink protected area around Nazca Lines archaeological site.” The Guardian. 6/9/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/peru-nazca-lines-protected-area
- Hamilton, Eric. “Ancient Andes society used hallucinogens to strengthen social order.” EurekAlert. 5/5/2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1082461
- Hashemi, Sara. “Ancient Chinese Poems Reveal the Decline of a Critically Endangered Porpoise Over 1,400 Years.” Smithsonian. 5/6/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-chinese-poems-reveal-the-decline-of-a-critically-endangered-porpoise-over-1400-years-180986570/
- Hung, Hsiao-chun. “Remote cave discovery shows ancient voyagers brought rice across 2,300 km of Pacific Ocean.” Phys.org. 6/26/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-remote-cave-discovery-ancient-voyagers.html
- Hunt, Katie. “125,000-year-old ‘fat factory’ run by Neanderthals discovered in Germany.” CNN. 7/4/2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/science/neanderthal-fat-factory-germany
- Hurriyet Daily News. “5,000-year-old bread unearthed in Küllüoba goes on display.” 5/23/2025. https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/5-000-year-old-bread-unearthed-in-kulluoba-goes-on-display-209487
- Jarus, Owen. “We finally know why Queen Hatshepsut's statues were destroyed in ancient Egypt.” LiveScience. 6/23/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/we-finally-know-why-queen-hatshepsuts-statues-were-destroyed-in-ancient-egypt
- Kuta, Sarah. “Did a Neanderthal Who Lived 43,000 Years Ago Paint a Red Nose on a Rock That Looked Like a Face?” Smithsonian. 6/2/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-a-neanderthal-who-lived-43000-years-ago-paint-a-red-nose-on-a-rock-that-looked-like-a-face-180986704/
- Kuta, Sarah. “How Researchers Discovered a 168-Year-Old Dutch Shipwreck Off the Coast of Australia in Underwater ‘Blizzard’ Conditions.” Smithsonian. 5/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-researchers-discovered-a-168-year-old-dutch-shipwreck-off-the-coast-of-australia-in-underwater-blizzard-conditions-180986637/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Tourists Are Stuffing Coins Into the Cracks of the Giant’s Causeway, Damaging the Iconic Site in Northern Ireland.” Smithsonian. 6/4/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tourists-are-stuffing-coins-into-the-cracks-of-the-giants-causeway-damaging-the-iconic-site-in-northern-ireland-180986745/
- Kuta, Sarah. “Why Was a 1940s Car Discovered in the Wreck of an American Naval Ship That Sank During World War II?” Smithsonian. 4/23/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-was-1940s-car-discovered-wreck-american-naval-ship-that-sank-during-world-war-ii-180986485/
- Larson, Christina. “Ancient DNA confirms New Mexico tribe's link to famed Chaco Canyon site.” Phys.org. 4/30/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-oral-histories-dna-picuris-pueblo.html
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “A Life-Sized Statue of a Bejeweled Ancient Priestess Is Unearthed in Pompeii.” ArtNet. 4/2/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/a-life-sized-statue-of-a-bejeweled-ancient-priestess-is-unearthed-in-pompeii-2627176
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Rare Artwork by Emily Brontë Scooped at Auction by Museum.” 4/11/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rare-artwork-by-emily-bronte-scooped-at-auction-by-museum-2631133
- Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Vatican Brings ‘God’s Architect’ Antoni Gaudí One Step Closer to Sainthood.” ArtNet. 4/15/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/vatican-antoni-gaudi-one-step-closer-to-sainthood-2632185
- Leahy, Diana. “Depictions of the Milky Way found in ancient Egyptian imagery.” 4/30/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-depictions-milky-ancient-egyptian-imagery.html
- MacKay, Mercedes. “'It's a mystery that's hung over our area for 50 years': Salem, Illinois, exhuming grave of unknown Amtrak train derailment victim.” KDSK. 3/13/2025. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/salem-illinois-exhuming-grave-of-unknown-amtrak-train-derailment-victim/63-2770a303-4e54-4647-8b13-dff304b93e30
- net. “Magna Carta at Harvard dates to the Year 1300, historians find.” 5/2025. https://www.medievalists.net/2025/05/magna-carta-at-harvard-dates-to-the-year-1300-historians-find/
- net. “Medieval Merlin Manuscript Fragment Revealed Through Digital Unfolding.” 5/2025. https://www.medievalists.net/2025/04/medieval-merlin-manuscript-fragment-revealed-through-digital-unfolding/
- net. “Medieval Mystery Solved: Sutton Hoo Bucket Was a Cremation Vessel.” 6/2025. https://www.medievalists.net/2025/06/medieval-mystery-solved-sutton-hoo-bucket-was-a-cremation-vessel/
- net. “Rethinking Rye: Study Reveals Medieval Cultivation Was Intensive and Strategic.” 5/2025. https://www.medievalists.net/2025/05/rethinking-rye-study-reveals-medieval-cultivation-was-intensive-and-strategic/
- net. “Tudor Wall Paintings Uncovered in Northern England Lodge.” 4/2025. https://www.medievalists.net/2025/04/tudor-wall-paintings-uncovered-in-northern-england-lodge/
- Mira, Chad. “Multiple bodies found in exhumed Salem, Ill., grave.” Fox2. https://fox2now.com/news/illinois/multiple-bodies-found-in-exhumed-salem-ill-grave/
- Organization of American Historians. “Statement in Response to Secretary Order 3431 and Censorship of History in the National Park Service.” 6/18/2025. https://www.oah.org/2025/06/18/statement-in-response-to-secretary-order-3431-and-censorship-of-history-in-the-national-park-service/
- Oster, Sandee. “New Holocene Aboriginal rock art style identified in recent study.” Phys.org. 4/29/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-holocene-aboriginal-art-style.html#google_vignette
- Oster, Sandee. “Study provides new insights into medieval sex workers and childcare.” Phys.org. 5/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-insights-medieval-sex-workers-childcare.html
- “Exhumations in Volhynia. Wróblewska on the beginning of work in Zboiska.” 6/23/2025. https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/ekshumacje-na-wolyniu-wroblewska-o-poczatku-prac-w-zboiskach
- org. “Race to save Sweden's 17th century warship in preservation project.” 4/9/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-sweden-17th-century-warship.html
- Pinotti, Thomaz et al. “Picuris Pueblo oral history and genomics reveal continuity in US Southwest.” Nature. 4/30/2025. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08791-9
- Public Library of Science. “Italians spent thousands of years perfecting grape cultivation, ancient seeds show.” Phys.org. 4/23/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-italians-spent-thousands-years-grape.html
- Radio Prague International. “Rare Roman soldier’s wrist purse discovered in South Moravia.” 6/24/2025. https://english.radio.cz/rare-roman-soldiers-wrist-purse-discovered-south-moravia-8854920
- Shams, Housnia. “Work begins to exhume remains of 800 dead babies at unwed mothers’ home in Ireland.” 6/17/2025. https://www.irishstar.com/news/ireland-news/work-begins-exhume-remains-800-35409145
- SO 3431 - Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History https://www.doi.gov/document-library/secretary-order/so-3431-restoring-truth-and-sanity-american-history
- Sweeney, Rory Mac. “Leonardo's Vitruvian Man: modern craniofacial anatomical analysis reveals a possible solution to the 500-year-old mystery.” Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. 3/28/2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513472.2025.2507568
- The History Blog. ‘Installation of Vasa’s new support structure begins.” 4/14/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/72910
- The History Blog. “16th c. mural found on the Grand Canal.” 4/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/72918
- The History Blog. “3,500-year-old bronze daggers found in corn field.” 4/1/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/72799
- The History Blog. “First English cheese treatise digitized, transcribed.” 5/1/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73045
- The History Blog. “Life and death of little “Ice Prince” revealed.” 5/26/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73246
- The History Blog. “Oldest baked bread flying off the shelves.” 5/29/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73273
- The History Blog. “Roman soldier’s bronze wrist purse found in Czech Republic.” 6/25/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73467
- University of Leeds. “Curd your enthusiasm: Secrets of oldest book on cheese revealed.” Phys.org. 4/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-curd-enthusiasm-secrets-oldest-cheese.html
- University of St. Andrews. “New tool to identify toxic pigments in historic books.” Phys.org. 6/6/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-tool-toxic-pigments-historic.html#google_vignette
- Vargas Ariza, Daniela et al. “The Cobs in the Archaeological Context of the San José Galleon Shipwreck.” Antiquity (2025): 1–6. Web. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/cobs-in-the-archaeological-context-of-the-san-jose-galleon-shipwreck/66532DCA302A8C08A1EBFE4AC7E4E6C1
- Wexler, Ellen. “The Only Black, All-Female Unit to Serve Overseas in World War II Receives the Congressional Gold Medal.” Smithsonian. 4/30/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-only-black-all-female-unit-to-serve-overseas-in-world-war-ii-receives-the-congressional-gold-medal-180986528/
- Whiddington, Richard. “A 19th-Century Condom With a Bawdy Print Makes Its Museum Debut.” 6/3/2025. ArtNet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/old-condom-erotica-rijksmuseum-show-2652526
- Whiddington, Richard. “A Lost WWI Submarine Is Discovered ‘Remarkably Intact’ After 100 Years.” ArtNet. 5/27/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/a-lost-wwi-submarine-is-discovered-remarkably-intact-after-100-years-2649437
- Whiddington, Richard. “Archaeologists Identify France’s Deepest Shipwreck.” ArtNet. 6/20/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/france-deepest-shipwreck-camarat-4-2659029
- Whiddington, Richard. “Nazca Lines Under Threat? Peru’s Downsizing Plan Sparks Alarm.” Artnet. 6/3/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nazca-lines-reduced-reserve-plan-2652342
- Whiddington, Richard. “Who Designed the Bayeux Tapestry? Its 93 Penises Offer Clues.” 5/2/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/bayeux-tapestry-93-penises-offer-clues-2639001
- Wizevich, Eli. “By Shoving a Bed Frame Against the Door, This Pompeii Family Tried to Survive Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption.” Smithsonian. 5/13/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/by-shoving-a-bed-frame-against-the-door-this-pompeii-family-tried-to-survive-mount-vesuvius-eruption-180986608/
- Wizevich, Eli. “It could take years for archaeologists to properly excavate and preserve the delicate wooden vessel, which likely became shipwrecked.” 4/30/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-rare-medieval-boat-discovered-over-18-feet-below-sea-level-in-barcelona-180986524/
- Wong, Jun Yi. “The Afterlife of Hatshepsut’s Statuary.” Antiquity 99.405 (2025): 746–761. Web. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/afterlife-of-hatshepsuts-statuary/F22D001E29438008136B6DA04F57C627
- Zeilstra, Andrew. “Mediterranean hunter gatherers navigated long-distance sea journeys well before the first farmers.” EurekAlert. 4/9/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079385
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