Unearthed! in Autumn 2024, Part 1

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