AROUND THE WORLD
Archaeology|May/June 2023
Researchers determined that a mastodon living in the Pacific Northwest 13,900 years ago was wounded when it was struck by a spear.
JASON URBANUS
AROUND THE WORLD

WASHINGTON:

The elephant-like animal's remains were first discovered 45 years ago at the Manis Mastodon site on the Olympic Peninsula. Recent CT scanning and 3-D software analysis revealed that tiny bone fragments embedded in its rib were pieces of a projectile fashioned from the leg bone of another mastodon. This represents the oldest known bone spearpoint in the Americas and the earliest evidence of mastodon hunting.

PENNSYLVANIA:

A U.S. Army ordnance disposal team was summoned to Gettysburg when a 160-year-old live artillery shell was uncovered during archaeological work. The 7-inch-long unexploded round was found 2 feet below the surface near a rocky outcrop known as Little Round Top. During the Civil War's bloody Battle of Gettysburg, Little Round Top was held by Union troops. It witnessed intense fighting during a Confederate assault on July 2, 1863, that resulted in as many as 1,700 casualties.

CHILE:

A new moai was found at the bottom of a dry lake bed in the Rano Raraku volcanic crater on Easter Island. The iconic sculptures were carved between 1,000 and 500 years ago and represent the ancestors of the island's Rapanui people. Measuring just 5 feet tall, the new figure is relatively small compared to others on the island, which average 13 feet in height and weigh around 14 tons each. The majority of Easter Island's 1,000 moai were carved out of Rano Raraku's soft volcanic tuff.

ENGLAND:

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM ARCHAEOLOGYView all
Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

While digging at the crossroads of the two main streets in the ancient city of Philippi in northern Greece, archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.
Archaeology

Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.

Оn the periphery of Zamárdi, an ancient lakeshore settlement in west-central Hungary, archaeologists uncovered a nearly five-foot-deep beehive-shaped pit with the skeletons of four adult dogs buried in successive shallow layers.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos
Archaeology

A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos

At the beginning of the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 810-1000), many of the great kingdoms of the southern Maya lowlands-among them Tikal, Palenque, and Calakmul-were being abandoned or collapsing. For many years, scholars have assumed that most, if not all, the other kingdoms across the Maya world must have also been in steep decline.

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.
Archaeology

Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.

Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy. Starting in 1847, medical students were required to have practical experience studying human anatomy, but legal options to procure cadavers were limited

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU
Archaeology

RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU

New dating techniques are unraveling the mystery of a sacred Andean city

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
Making a Roman Emperor
Archaeology

Making a Roman Emperor

A newly discovered monumental arch in Serbia reveals a family's rise to power in the late second century A.D.

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
The Assyrian Renaissance
Archaeology

The Assyrian Renaissance

Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world's grandest imperial capitals

time-read
10+ mins  |
July/August 2024
Java's Megalithic Mountain
Archaeology

Java's Megalithic Mountain

Across the Indonesian archipelago, people raised immense stones to honor their ancestors

time-read
8 mins  |
July/August 2024
THE SONG IN THE STONE
Archaeology

THE SONG IN THE STONE

Located in a desert gorge in southern Peru, Toro Muerto is one of the richest rock art sites in South America. It includes at least 2,600 boulders bearing petroglyphs, many featuring figures known as danzantes who appear to be dancing.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024