Illustration of one of the seven sampled Australopithecus molars JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA—According to a Newsweek report, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University of Witswatersrand analyzed nitrogen isotopes taken from the tooth enamel of seven Australopithecus individuals. These hominins, whose remains were discovered in southern Africa’s …

Reconstruction of Iron Age helmet (top) from copper alloy fragments (above) found in the hoard SNETTISHAM, ENGLAND—Metal fragments previously thought to be part of a vessel are actually pieces of an Iron Age helmet, according to a BBC News report. Conservator Fleur Shearman of the British Museum was examining the …

NAPLES, ITALY—The Associated Press reports that a luxurious bathhouse large enough to accommodate 30 people has been unearthed in Pompeii, a Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, said that the structure may be the largest thermal complex …

Plaques with sun motifs COPENHAGEN, DENMARK—According to a statement released by the University of Copenhagen, analysis of ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet has shown that a volcanic eruption occurred in 2900 B.C. The eruption likely triggered cold weather, a lack of sunshine, and low crop yields for Neolithic …

Grave of a young Durotriges woman and a mirror buried with her, Langton Herring, England DUBLIN, IRELAND—DNA analysis of 57 individuals whose remains were unearthed at an Iron Age burial site in southern England suggests that they belonged to a matrilocal society, according to a Cosmos Magazine report. The burials …

ORLÉANS, FRANCE—According to a Live Science report, Roman graves were discovered during the excavation of the site of an eighteenth-century hospital in northwestern France by researchers from the Orléans Archaeology Service. More than 60 burials, all containing the remains of men, had been placed in a row situated along a …

Bottles recovered at Cooden Camp, Bexhill, England BEXHILL, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that the site of Cooden Camp, a World War I training camp that opened in 1914, is being investigated ahead of a construction project in southeastern England. Soldiers from the 11th, 12th, and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex …

Pottery tripods from China’s Xielaozhuang site HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA—According to a Phys.org report, archaeologist Xingtao Wei of Zhengzhou University and his colleagues analyzed residues preserved on three 8,000-year-old pottery tripods recovered from Xielaozhuang, a site in northern China belonging to the Peiligang culture. The researchers were examining the pottery with …

Cuneiform tablet, Kurd Qaburstan, Iraq ORLANDO, FLORIDA—According to a statement released by the University of Central Florida, excavations at the Mesopotamian site of Kurd Qaburstan in northeastern Iraq have uncovered cuneiform tablets, a game board, and traces of a large structure dated to about 1800 B.C. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni of the …

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA—According to a statement released by the University of Adelaide, a possible 3-D map has been identified in the Ségognole 3 rock shelter, which is located in the Paris Basin of northern France, by Médard Thiry of the PSL Research University and Anthony Milnes of the University of Adelaide. …