New scientific research adds to growing evidence that the Anglo-Saxons did not replace the native population in England as history books suggest.
The data indicates at least some areas of eastern England absorbed very few Anglo-Saxon invaders, contrary to the view in many historical accounts.
Chemical analysis of human teeth from a Medieval cemetery in Yorkshire found few individuals of continental origin.
Details of the work are described in the scholarly journal Antiquity.
Japan to help protect Iraq's Sumer ruins artifacts
SAMAWAH, Iraq (Kyodo) Japan plans to help prevent the theft of precious artifacts from being stolen from the ruins of Sumer in southern Iraq, site of the world's oldest known city-state system, government sources said.
Because valuable artifacts continue to disappear from the ruins, Japan will help local authorities tighten security at the sites, providing them with patrol vehicles and other equipment, according to the sources.
The government is considering extending such assistance to Iraq through UNESCO, using $600,000 in grant aid, the sources said.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNLOCK HIDDEN PAST OF DUNSTANBURGH CASTLE
An archaeological survey into the wild landscape around Dunstanburgh Castle has uncovered its wartime secrets and new evidence of its medieval past.
Owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage, Dunstanburgh was built in 1313 by Earl Thomas of Lancaster and sits dramatically on the North East coastline.
Back in November 2003, archaeologists from both English Heritage and the National Trust spent three weeks conducting a high-tech survey of the area around the castle.
As well as uncovering new information about Dunstanburgh, they found a top secret Battle of Britain radar station and a Mediterranean terraced garden created by homesick Italian POWs.
The verdict is in. . . .again. Study: Humans, Neanderthals Did Not Mate
March 17, 2004 — The verdict is in: humans and Neanderthals did not date — much.
Genetic evidence from Neanderthal and early human bones indicates that if there was any intermixing of the two species, it was so little that it left no genetic trace. The discovery was published in the current edition of PloS Biology.
"I thought this was an incredibly significant paper," said Stanford University anthropologist Richard Klein. "So much of the time in paleoanthropology and other 'softer' sciences the arguments seem to go on forever."
. . .
The very prominent jaw and cheekbones, the large nose, as well as the swept-back forehead and low I.Q., would probably make a Neanderthal appear repulsive to most humans.
I'd take Daryl Hannah instead, fer sure.
Archaeologists: 2.1km tunnel is inadequate
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have branded the government's £200m plans for a 2.1km tunnel under Stonehenge "inadequate", claiming it would bring "irreversible damage to the World Heritage site".
At the inquiry this week, representatives of many of Britain's most respected archaeological organisations echoed the National Trust's demands for a longer tunnel to remove traffic from a larger section of the world-famous beauty spot than the iconic stone circle.
"The proposed road severs the spatial plane, depriving visitors of the ability to experience its connectedness," said Susan Denyer, of the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK.
"Stonehenge was inscribed on the World Heritage list as an entity that has integrity.
"Some parts of the site cannot have greater value than others."
Fragile find shares secrets of Maori life centuries ago
A sneeze could destroy the tiny fragments forever, but pieces of an ancient Maori cloak found on Banks Peninsula have major significance.
The remnants of the 500-year-old flax cloak were found on Kaitorete Spit, by Lake Ellesmere, with other artefacts in what archaeologists and local Maori regard as a valuable archaeological and cultural find.
Unusually well-preserved albatross bones, tools and kokowai (a red dye) and pieces of a hut, including a segment of carved wood, were also unearthed.
Historic Places Trust regional archaeologist Chris Jacomb said the cloak was of particular interest. It was the first evidence of how clothing was made in the early centuries of Maori settlement in New Zealand.
Spell shoe is discovered in roof
Planners in charge of preserving Jersey's historic buildings are asking people to get in touch if they have found footwear built into properties.
Workmen stripping the roof of a 16th Century cottage found a shoe that had been built into one of the walls.
The custom of burying a shoe under a roof dates back hundreds of years and was supposed to ward off evil.
Stuart Fell, from the Planning Department, said it was the first time he had come across one in Jersey.