January/February 2024 Issue

Dingoes are considered a menace by many today, but 2,000 years ago people had a much different relationship with them. Although the canines are generally feral, Aboriginal peoples occasionally adopted them. Excavations at Curracurrang Rock Shelter in New South Wales suggest the two species even formed close bonds. Dingo burials found at the site alongside those of First Peoples indicate that the dogs were treated with great care, often receiving the same funerary rites and burial customs as their human companions.

Guards protecting the Great Wall of China 500 years ago during the Ming Dynasty had a secret weapon to toss at would-be assailants—hand grenades. While excavating the first storeroom ever found along the wall, near the popular Badaling section, archaeologists discovered a cache of 59 spherical projectiles. They were made of stone and had been drilled with holes that could be filled with gunpowder and sealed, creating an explosive effect when hurled at an enemy.

Full-spectrum photography revealed a rare medieval tattoo on a man who lived at the monastic site of Ghazali in Nubia around 1,300 years ago. The right foot of the 35-to-50-year-old individual was marked with a Chi-Rho, a Christian symbol composed of the Greek letters chi and rho. This symbol was frequently used as an abbreviation for Jesus Christ, as chi and rho are the first two letters of the Greek word Christos.