January/February 2017 Issue

MICRONESIA: The ancient city of Nan Madol—composed of artificial basalt islands surrounded by canals, and called the “Venice of the Pacific”—was one of the first in Oceania to be ruled by a chief. Using uranium-thorium dating, researchers found that construction of a monumental tomb, the size of a football field, began there in 1180 and was completed by 1200. This pushes back the establishment of the capital and its chiefdom by 100 years. —Samir S. Patel

CHINA: We can’t say which side of the marijuana legalization debate the resident of a tomb in the Jiayi Cemetery would have been on, but it’s clear that the plant carried special ritual or medicinal importance to his people. His body had been wrapped in a “shroud” of 13 cannabis plants, fanning out across his torso, around 2,500 years ago. Most of the flowers had been removed, but those that remain suggest he was buried in the late summer. —Samir S. Patel

TANZANIA: There are various places in Africa where ancient human footprints have been found, but none contain as many as the volcanic mudflat of Engare Sero, where researchers have recently catalogued more than 400 dating to between 10,000 and 19,000 years ago. Two individuals appear to have been jogging, and there were two groups of mostly women and children traveling in different directions. It’s thought that even more footprints lie under nearby sand dunes. —Samir S. Patel