September/October 2022 Issue

NEW ZEALAND: Small porcelain dolls are among the thousands of Victorian age artifacts retrieved from the site of a former ladies’ school in Christchurch. Ranging from 1 to 18 inches tall, the figurines were originally manufactured in Germany. They were also widespread in the United States in the mid-19th century, where they were later known as “Frozen Charlottes.” The name stems from a macabre popular poem about a vain young girl who refused to cover up on a cold evening and froze to death during an open sleigh ride.

AUSTRALIA: Charred eggshell fragments from numerous sites across Australia suggest that, 50,000 years ago, the continent’s earliest human inhabitants frequently dined on the eggs of a previously unidentified avian species. Recent analysis of samples from the site of Wood Point indicates that the eggs belonged to the flightless Genyornis, or “thunder bird,” which stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed up to 530 pounds. People raided the birds’ nests for their protein-rich eggs, each of which weighed more than 3 pounds. This likely contributed to the bird’s extinction.

ISRAEL: The earliest known evidence of domestication of a fruit tree was uncovered at the Chalcolithic site of Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley. During excavations, archaeologists unearthed the 7,000-year-old charred remains of wood, which they determined belonged to olive trees. Although prevalent throughout the Mediterranean world, olives are not endemic to the Jordan Valley. Experts believe that olive trees were imported to the site and cultivated there, allowing its inhabitants to become wealthy by trading in the trees’ valuable products.